Parent Teacher Night
by Basmathgirl
Summary: In an AU, Donna begins a new college course and meets Dr John Smith. Strangely enough their goals turn out to be the same. Contains a slight crossover with Fright Night.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **prompt offered by** develish1 **and** Anon **on tumblr.

**Prompt:** The benefit of being the only adult in this college course is commiserating about the woes of single-daddom over a beer with the hot professor

**Disclaimer:** Erm, what do I actually own here? Oh yes - I've been to college as an adult and mature student.

* * *

**Part 1**

.

It had seemed like such a good idea to get a few qualifications under her belt and retrain to do something useful with her life. That is, it had been, until the local adult educational college had admitted that they couldn't provide the course she wanted unless she attended the local sixth form college in order to do it. Great! Just what she needed, to be sitting amongst a bunch of emo teenagers whose greatest tragedy in life was that their mum wanted them to take the used cups down from their room once in a while.

That was how Donna Noble found herself sitting nervously in the back corner of the lecture room as several teenagers turned up and peered at her with mixed emotions of curiosity and distrust. She tried out saying a few hellos to break the ice, but so far there had been only polite replies before they attempted to hide themselves from her gaze. How wizard! Apparently on this particular course she would be the only proper adult student. However would she cope? She seriously considered just getting up and walking out, and then the lecturer appeared to perk up her interest.

He dashed in through the doors, looking very flustered and slightly out of breath as he set his papers down. "Good morning everyone. Sorry I'm a bit late but there was a tiny crisis before I left home this morning. You know how it is," he commented as he twirled on the spot, plonked his glasses onto his nose and properly considered the gathered students for the first time without the blurry haze. "Or not," he amended when he silently noted their ages.

"The girlfriend giving you grief, sir?" one cheeky young man sitting near the front risked wondering.

The lecturer immediately blushed; a deep crimson colour reaching the very tips of his ears as his hand weaved a frantic path through his spikey brown hair. "Oh no. Nothing like that. It was my daughter…" His voice trailed off when the lack of gossip brought no further attention. So he cleared his throat dramatically. "Let's start again. I'm Dr John Smith and I'd like to formally welcome you to Further Pure &amp; Applied Maths. I'll be with you for the next couple of weeks so if you could all just jot your names down on this piece of paper for the attendance officer, we can begin," he stated, smashing down a paper onto the desk of the nearest student.

Everybody dutifully opened their pads, picked up their pens, and began to make notes. Now this was what Donna had been waiting for, and she was quickly enjoying every second as she listened to Dr Smith talk about his subject with passion. Little did she know, as she paid careful attention, that Dr Smith was paying equal attention to her as he danced about in front of the whiteboard.

At the end of the hour she let all the other students rush out first. There was no hurry as far as she was concerned. Her next lecture wasn't for another hour, so she was going to head for the library and start immediately on the questions that had been set for their first assignment.

"Ah, Ms Noble," Dr Smith halted her progress when she slowly made her way down the wooden steps towards the door, glancing briefly at the attendance sheet to make sure he had got her name right. "It's a little unusual to see someone so…erm…"

"Old?" she offered to end his sentence, and smiled disarmingly.

"Not really," he quickly retracted. "I mean… Actually, I don't know what I mean."

"I thought so," she smirked. "I'm here gaining some qualifications so that I can go to university, boost my CV, get my brain to work, and hopeful earn some decent money in the future."

"All very admirable," he conceded, nodding vigorously. "Well. Any time you need to discuss the course, don't hesitate to do so. I'm very approachable, I'm told."

"That's good," she agreed, smiling at his friendly warmth. "I'll definitely keep that in mind. In fact, you might end up regretting it," she warned, and turned to go. "Anyway, I'll see you next week, and I hope your daughter doesn't give you any more grief tomorrow morning."

He grimaced. "I doubt I'll escape it. She was very insistent that she had to wear her khaki jeans this morning; and do you think we could find them?"

"Kids are like that," she commiserated, feeling suddenly slightly uncomfortable that she knew far more than she ought to about him just yet. "My main problem is socks. So, your office is up on the top corridor, right?" she asked, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yes, right near the end fire door," he hastily supplied, wondering why he was becoming so fixated on holding her attention. "Come up and see me some time."

To his delight she giggled. "Shouldn't that be my line, Doctor? See you later. Bye!"

He stood for some seconds, enjoying watching her amble out, swaying her hips dramatically as she did so, and her long ginger hair flicking from side to side. It took some seconds for her to disappear from view before he drily commented to himself, "Well, that went well. Smooth as sandpaper, in fact." With a large dose of self-disgust, he picked up his papers and headed for his office.

* * *

Further down the corridor, Donna had only just made it to the bottom step of the staircase that led up to the library when she spotted a familiar face. "Carol! Is that you?" she gasped out in surprise at the sight of another woman in her thirties. "I didn't know you worked here."

Carol sheepishly grinned back over the mound of papers she was carrying in her arms. "Hello, Donna! Long-time no see. Yes, I've been working here for almost two years now, in the humanities department as their administration clerk. What are you doing here? New job?"

"No," Donna admitted, drawing out the single syllable. "I've become a part time student while I get what I need for my university course. Call it a life plan, if you will."

Nodding her head in acceptance, Carol asked, "How's everyone? Your mum still giving you grief?"

"Not half!" Donna stated with feeling. "Normally whatever I do it will never be right, so I was amazed when she was okay with me doing this for a short while."

"In that case, why don't you come out and have a quick drink to celebrate us being back here," Carol proposed. "I promise I won't keep you too long," she quickly added when her old friend looked reluctant.

"Just give me the chance to phone her and check it's alright," Donna pleaded as she brought out her mobile phone. "If I don't ask, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Take as long as you like," Carol offered magnanimously as she stood waiting for the verdict. One thing she had learned long ago: you don't cross Sylvia Noble, not if you can help it.

Several hours later, Carol guided Donna into a nearby pub. "Blimey! This has changed," Donna commented as she took in her surroundings.

"It certainly has," Carol agreed. "Usually it isn't this busy, but with it being the first day of term… Oh! There they are!" She desperately waved at two women seated at a far table and then led the way through the patrons. Once there, she made all the introductions and made sure Donna sat herself down. "Plonk yourself there. Right then. Who wants a drink? And no, you're not paying, Donna. I've already told you that."

As she expected, Donna rolled her eyes in exasperation, causing the two other women to smile as they fondly looked on. But in next to no time they all had a drink in front of them and they were chatting away about life in general.

The hour went quite quickly but realising that her time was running out, Donna made her way to the pub toilets before going to catch her bus home. Just as she reached the main bar again and intended to say goodbye to her friends, she bumped straight into a man turning from the bar counter, holding a pint of beer in his hand. It visibly slopped all over his hand.

"Whoops! I am so sorry," she immediately blurted out. "Did it spill? Honestly, at times I need a guide dog."

"No harm done," he politely insisted as he regarded the possible damage, and then lifted his head to see who had walked into him. To say he was secretly pleased would be an understatement. "Oh!"

Something fluttered in anticipation within her as she recognised her 'victim'. "Doctor Smith, you must think I'm such a klutz. Let me get you a fresh pint," she offered in apology, reaching out to swipe the beer from his sleeve.

"No no no. there's still plenty to drink," he maintained. "See…" And he took a hearty swig of the remainder of his pint. "But let me get you a drink."

"Oh no," she instantly declined, "there's no need for that. I have a bus to catch in a minute or so." For some reason she thumbed towards the direction where the bus stop lay. Why did she do that, she wondered? It wasn't as if he probably needed to know.

"Then would you please do me the honour of sitting with me while I finish this pint?" he requested. "It shouldn't take me too long."

Still blushing from the awkwardness of their encounter, she quickly acquiesced. "Alright then, and I'll do my best not to chuck anything else over you."

Seeing her sit down, Carol was extremely puzzled until she saw who Donna was suddenly sitting with. Wanting a good excuse to investigate, Carol went over to place the glass containing the last dregs of Donna's drink in front of her. "And here's your coat, Donna. We're off home now so I'll see you…?" she asked, letting the question hang in the air.

"Monday," Donna supplied. "As you can see, I'm in detention for unruly behaviour."

All three of them laughed; goodbyes were said, and then before they knew it, both John and Donna were alone.

"I er… I hope you don't think that I deliberately set this up," he stammered out after taking another hasty sip of his beer.

"I was going to say exactly the same thing," she confessed. "This might come as a shock to you, but I don't normally throw drinks all over blokes. Well… not intentionally."

"That's fine. And sorry for blackmailing you into sitting here with me. Your husband would go spare, no doubt," he continued his apology. But concerns for his personal safety made him ask, "He's not likely to thump me, is he?"

"No." She shook her head vehemently. "For a start, I'd have to have a husband to deck you," she deadpanned, "not even one that actually cared enough in a jealous way. Then again, I might have your wife after my guts for sitting here with you like this."

He sadly shook his head too. "I lost my wife quite a long time ago."

"Oh I am sorry," she commiserated. "I didn't mean to mock her memory or anything. It can't be easy for you bringing up your daughter alone. Assuming, of course, that you really haven't got a girlfriend."

"Why…?" he started to ask, and then realised what the answer was. "Of course, I said that at the beginning of your lecture this morning. Yes, she was being a right little madam. Deliberately so, because she didn't want to go to the childminder."

"Probably because she didn't want to lose you seeing as it's the first day back after the summer holiday," Donna reasoned, twirling her glass within her hands on the table top.

"That could be it," he agreed. "Normally I don't lecture at the sixth form college but I'm filling in for my friend while he gets over breaking his leg last month."

"So you won't be lecturing our course for long?" she pondered, and wondered why that upset her so much. Her answering thought had something to do with his gorgeous brown eyes and his face that was far too handsome, considering his wonky features.

"I'm afraid not," he replied, and sat back with a sigh. "After the day I've had I needed a beer before I headed for home. I'd forgotten how exhausting it is to lecture people who aren't as committed to a subject as I am."

"What?! Pft!" she mocked him. "Call that disinterested? You obviously haven't taught in a normal school, mate. You should count yourself lucky."

Grinning despite himself, he asked, "Have you taught in any of the local schools?"

"Nah," she dismissed, gulping down the end of her drink. "I've been a volunteer quite a few times, and filled in when they needed office staff, but I would not count what I did as teaching."

"Volunteered? How did you end up doing that?" he queried.

"The usual," she supplied. "My son wanted me to go along on some school trips, so I went. I tell you, those teachers deserve every penny they get."

"So… a son," he encouraged her to talk. "Is he like you?"

What the hell did he mean by that? "Well, he don't walk around in skirt suits or high heels; not that I know of, but you never know with fifteen year olds." She looked down at her attire and decided it was lacking a great deal as she regarded her grubby trainers. "I don't normally wear jeans and a sweatshirt, but something a bit more formal. But when in Rome…"

He rather liked her skinny jeans and jolly sweatshirt ensemble on her. It emphasised her curves and lean legs in a very attractive way, he thought. Not that he was forming any sort of a crush on a student, he hurriedly denied, or that he'd tell anyone that; least of all her. "It is the norm in college," he conceded with a nod of his head.

The phone in Donna's pocket went off and she apologetically answered it. "Hello, darling. What's the problem? Just ask your nan… I know I said I'd be home by four but I met my friend Carol and she asked to see me for a bit after college finished. Josh, I won't be too long. Promise. You can cope with Nan until Gramps gets in, you know you can. Turn on the charm for a bit, and don't pretend you don't know how to. See you soon. Bye!" She then futilely informed John, "That was my son."

"Did you say Josh; Josh Noble?" he enquired, rolling the name thoughtfully over his tongue. "He doesn't happen to go to St Peter's and is in Year Ten, does he?"

"Yes!" she answered with glee, and then her face fell. "Don't tell me you know him. What on earth has he done now?"

"Nothing," he hastily consoled her. "It's just that my daughter, Ellie, goes on and on about him. He sits behind her in maths."

She thought that information over, easily recognising the name. "Ellie Smith? Oh my God! Talk about a coincidence. He has, like, a massive crush on her." Donna held her hands up wide apart in demonstration of how huge her son's crush was.

"Crush?" John laughed at the coincidence. "Perhaps I ought to come and vet him, seeing as they both have a thing for each other," he mischievously proposed. "As long as his dad doesn't mind, of course." Oh dear! He hadn't even thought to find out who the boy's father is. It could complicate his sudden hopes.

"Who him?" she disparaged. "I wouldn't worry about him if I were you. Peter couldn't stay around long enough for the birth, let alone care what Josh is up to now. No, he was off with some blonde that he claimed was helping him rehearse somewhere. But I'll save moaning about what a useless piece of fatherhood he is for another time."

As far as John was concerned this was excellent news. They were both single, unattached, soon to be no longer teacher and pupil, with children who wanted to meet. What more could happen for them to consider getting together? This situation was offering a lot of exciting opportunities. He leaned forward and softly murmured, "Our children sound like they need a nudge from us. So what do you say, Donna? Can I give you a lift home?"

It did seem logical to her in that moment. "In that case, I suppose you'd better. You'll certainly surprise my mum when we turn up on her doorstep."

With that, he finished his pint, they stood up to put on their coats, and headed out into the September night, feeling an excited anticipation in the air. This had all the promise of an interesting friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I was persuaded to write more for this, so this part was specially written to wish **fansquee** a happy birthday.

* * *

**Part 2**

.

John's car slowly drew up outside the end semi-detached house on the corner of an ordinary road, and Donna immediately tensed as he turned off the engine. It certainly didn't seem to be him causing the problem, not to his knowledge, since she'd clearly invited him there.

"What's the matter?" John asked in concern. It was highly unusual for someone to dread their own home.

"It's just that… Mum can be a bit mean and nasty; even more so these days," she explained. "Anyone would think it hadn't been her idea that Josh and I move back in with her while I do all this studying stuff."

"It'll be fine," he reassured her, placing a comforting hand briefly over hers. Well, there was no need to risk anything more than that just yet. "I promise I won't regret this idea."

"Pft! You say that now," she mocked, undoing her seat belt and trying to ignore the flash of excitement his gentle touch had caused.

"I do," he confidently retorted, and climbed out of the car in order to follow her to the house and she opened the door.

"Hellooo!" Donna called out as she extracted her key from the front door lock and stepped into the hallway. "Is anybody…? Ah! There you are Josh. Had a good day with the school treasure hunt?"

In front of her had appeared a shaggy-haired teenage boy, clad casually in jeans and an oversized t-shirt, who stood anxiously in the doorway to the kitchenette as he peered out from under his long dark fringe. There was a quality about him that was very familiar to John as he followed Donna down the narrow passageway and towards her son. Josh was eating the last remnants of something from a small bowl held within his hands; almost shovelling the contents up and into his mouth as though he expected someone to steal his food.

"About time you was home," Josh grumbled, as he swallowed the last bites, and then did his best to look pleasant. "It wasn't too bad today. They didn't alter many questions so we knew all the answers off by heart. Dave Matthews turned up in school uniform. What a dunce! You'd think he'd know by now that first day back is non-uniform. We found a sniveller.. I mean a little Year Seven crying out by the tech block, so we took him to see Mrs Brown. She was well pleased with me. Even taking it slow, I was home by two. Who's this?" he asked with undisguised interest and wariness, glancing towards the man behind his mother.

"Hello," John instantly greeted him at the first opportunity. "I'm Dr John Smith."

"He's my maths lecturer for the time being, from up at the college," Donna explained. "And this is my son, Josh," she continued the introductions. "Come through and I'll put the kettle on."

As she moved forward, Josh let out a squeak of protest and jumped out of John's way as he passed by. Unfazed, John shot him a reassuring smile when he drew level with the boy, and then strode after Donna.

"Hello," Sylvia awkwardly greeted the sight of them from where she and her father sat at the kitchen table. "I saved you a dinner but there's plenty more if your friend would like some."

"I'm fine, thank you, Mrs Noble," John polite refused, "but please carry on eating. Don't stop on my behalf." He then turned to Donna and whispered, "See! I'm still not regretting this yet."

"Give it time," she retorted mischievously, and went to put the kettle on. The sight of her son sidling up to join her at the sink in order to deal with the tea things was no surprise at all. He may seem confident but there was a vulnerability about him that still needed her protectiveness.

"Come and sit yourself down with us," Donna's grandfather insisted as he waved John over to the table. "We can't have Donna's new boyfriend thinking we'd let you stand around like that."

"Oh! I'm not…," he spluttered in shock as he pulled out a chair to sit on. "We're not…"

"He's my new friend from college, Gramps!" Donna chided, placing the sugar bowl firmly down onto the table in front of John. "Behave yourself. Sorry, John, but he is always trying to dump me off on some unsuspecting bloke."

"I meant no harm, sweetheart. You can call me Wilf," he added the last bit in John's direction. "Any chance of a biscuit?" he asked Josh as mugs of tea were carefully placed on the table.

"Dad!" Sylvia warned him. "You're supposed to be cutting down!"

"But we've got a guest," Wilf defended himself.

"So you're not a boyfriend?" Josh wondered, clearly puzzled. "Do you normally do home visits?" Having brought the biscuit tin over, he sat himself warily down onto a seat just as Donna joined them.

"Josh!"

"No, it's okay," John halted Donna's possible tirade by holding up his hand. "I should possibly come clean and admit I've come to see you."

"Me?!" Josh spat out in shock. "Why?"

This was John's soap opera moment, so it was with great relish that he revealed, "Because I'm Ellie's father."

Josh visible paled as his eyes grew wide and wild in terror. A small whimper of pain could almost be clearly heard. "I didn't do anything, honest I didn't! You can ask her if you like. I never touched Ellie. Mum, all I've done is talk to her in class."

"I know," Donna assured him.

"Then…?" It was only then that Josh spotted the smirk John was attempting to hide. "What's going on? Is this a joke or what? Have I done something wrong or haven't I?"

"You haven't," John confirmed, and took a sip of his tea. "Not yet anyway, but if you break my daughter's heart then I might not be so nice in the future."

Josh whipped his head about in confusion between John and his mother. Finally she took pity on him, and clarified, "John is saying that you are allowed to go out with Ellie. Isn't that what you want?"

"What! Really?!" Josh beamed with glee as he practically leapt from his seat. "Hang on… did you ask her out for me?" he asked Donna, his delight now turning angry.

"Of course not," she hurriedly replied. "That's for you to do, so I suggest you get your bum in gear and go ask her."

"But I don't have her number!" Josh practically wailed. "I'll have to think of something else or come up with a plan."

"Or you could borrow my phone to get the number," John suggested. He then proceeded to scroll through his contacts to find the relevant number and then offered Josh his mobile phone.

"You are bloody brilliant!" Josh declared as he gratefully took the phone and disappeared out of the room.

John sharing a delighted smile with Donna was soon broken by a huff coming from somewhere to the side of them.

"Should you be encouraging him to get a girlfriend, Donna? I don't think it's a good idea at all. What about his studies?" Sylvia complained.

"Give the lad a break, Sylv," Wilf retorted. "You're only young once."

"That's as may be, but he needs to get his qualifications," Sylvia defended herself. "Especially if he wants a decent job."

'Here we go,' Donna thought, 'the same old rant about earning money.' She absolutely dreaded Peter being dragged into it; especially in front of John.

To their combined dismay, Josh soon reappeared looking crestfallen, and he solemnly handed John back his phone before throwing himself onto his previous seat.

"What happened, love?" Donna asked.

"She didn't answer; it was engaged," he sullenly replied.

"Never mind. You can try again later," Wilf chivvied him. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

John nodded in agreement. "She was probably talking to Becky again. They're always on the phone or online together."

Having decided this was probably the case, he made a move to head for home, having been satisfied with this first encounter with his daughter's future boyfriend. It seemed inevitable at that point, so it paid to get to know the family, he told himself.

* * *

"That John… he seemed nice. I thought he had the look of your Peter," Wilf commented to Donna later on as they sat watching a television programme together in the lounge.

"Geroff! John's nothing like him. And he's not my Peter anymore. Hasn't been since…" She thumbed towards Josh as a means to end that sentence.

Gramps' ready acceptance of John clearly worried young Josh. "Mum, how do you know he won't be as bad as Dad? This John could be using you," he warned as he cuddled into her side.

"Pft! I doubt that anyone could be as bad as your dad, but no, I don't think John is using me," she decided. He moved even closer, doing his best puppy impression. "Oh Josh! Do you have to practically sit on me?"

He grinned in amusement. "It's because I luv ya, Mum"

Eyeing him suspiciously, she proclaimed, "That's rather a lot of loving you're doing to me."

"It is!" he agreed enthusiastically, and gave her a squeeze. "I love you lots and lots."

"Okay, what are you really after?" she joked. "Because I might not be able to afford it now."

"Nothing, Mum," he declared. "I just want you." He added to his declaration by soundly kissing her cheek several times.

In seconds she was giggling with delight. "Careful, I could get used to this."

As per usual, them having a loving, fun moment was soon disturbed. "What are you two doing all cosied up on my sofa?" Sylvia wanted to know as she appeared with fresh tea for them all.

"Mum, it's just a cuddle," Donna defended their actions. But they had released their hold on each other nevertheless. "You know, the sort of thing you can do with your son from time to time."

Sylvia scowled, picked up her knitting from where she had left on the cushions and sat herself down into her favourite chair. "I'd call it wasting your time and spoiling him too much."

Seeing Donna's pained expression, Joshed whispered sincerely, "I still love you, Mum."

In answer, she defiantly hugged him. Blow her mother and her narrow-minded views! It was in times like these that she really wished she hadn't given up her small flat and moved back in with her mother to save money. She silently vowed that she would escape again one day.

.

* * *

It didn't take John too long to drive the short distance between his home and Donna's, but it still felt late as he opened his front door. Stepping quietly into his hallway, he immediately could hear the voice of his daughter obviously talking on the phone to someone about him.

"You know what he's like. He won't let me go… Alright, I'll ask him, but I know what the answer will be."

Taking that as his cue, he placed a hand on the lounge door and pushed it open. Ellie was sitting on the sofa, as expected, with a phone in her hand.

After sweeping his gaze around the room, he greeted her with, "Hello, darling! Why are you here all on your own?"

"Because I'm old enough. Hello Dad !" Ellie quickly rose up out of her seat and greeted him warmly with a hug. "Honestly Dad, I'm not a child anymore. It is legal to leave me on my own now. Even Shirley said I don't need to go there anymore." She then paused her well-rehearsed complaint in order to grumble, "Why do you smell so much of beer and….?" Taking a deep sniff near his chest, she exploded in disgust, "Perfume!"

"Ah," he answered guiltily, "I went to have a pint, met a friend and she accidentally spilt some beer on me. I'll go and change." He hastily turned and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

What! "Who is this 'woman friend'? Is she your girlfriend? Are you finally seeing someone?" her inquisitive voice followed him out of the room.

"You know that no one can replace your mother," he called back from his bedroom as he reached it. "It was just someone from the sixth form college. Come to think of it, you might know her."

Ellie had followed him up the stairs, eager to hear his explanation. "Oh? How would I know her?"

He tried to nonchalantly undo his shirt buttons, and undid his cuffs. "Her son is in some of your classes," he told his daughter as she stood in the doorway.

That got her interest. "Who?"

"Josh Noble," he supplied as he tossed aside his shirt and looked for his pyjama top to wear instead.

There was a shriek that forced him to cover his ears. It was closely followed by a little dance of excitement across his bedroom carpet that he watched with amusement.

"You know Josh Noble's mum?" Ellie sought to clarify from her father as she continued to bounce in her newfound joy. When he nodded, she continued with one of the questions that occurred to her, "Did you mention me? Don't tell me you said anything about me, please don't!"

"Well, of course I had to say who you are, but nothing beyond that. Was that wrong of me? I suppose I shouldn't have given her a lift home too."

"You went to his house!" There was a squeal from Ellie's direction. "Did you see him? What did he say? Did he know who you are? Will I be able to show my face in school tomorrow?"

"All these questions!" he laughed. "Yes, I saw him. I said hello and he said hello back. Then I came home. Is that too damning for you?"

"So…" Now how could she word this very delicate question? Ellie flailed a bit as she weighted up her options. "Are you going to see his mum again?"

"I'll see her on Monday," John carefully replied, really enjoying his daughter's excitement about all this. "Is that too soon?"

"No," she hastily denied. "So what did you think of Josh now that you've seen him?"

"Erm… A fairly typical teenage boy, you know; all jeans and sulky attitude. He has a touch of that Hiro kid from that cartoon film vibe about him, but then that's probably the hair doing that."

"But you think he's nice?" Ellie pressed.

"If you like that sort of thing," John agreed, and gained a beautiful smile that he suspected wasn't entirely for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

.

It was their first maths lesson of the year, and Ellie was busy chatting with her friend Becky as most of the class entered to take their seats. Acting as casually as he could, given their schoolroom situation, Josh swung round on his chair and beckoned Ellie over to his desk. Leaning towards her, he good-naturedly asked, "What's all this about your dad and my mum?"

"I know!" Ellie commiserated. "Who'd have thought it?"

"Why, what's happened? Are your oldies going out together?" a nearby boy wondered, scrunching his face up in disgust.

"It looks like they might be, Baz," Josh confirmed. "Her dad came round our house last night and everything, and we all know you've got to be keen if you're willing to face Nan. She's certainly kept Dad away all these years."

They laughed knowingly together at the thought of how welcoming his Nan could be.

"Is your nan bad news then?" Ellie asked, unsure of the joke.

"Just picture the human version of a scorpion," Josh light-heartedly suggested. "She isn't all bad, but when she strikes, she's vicious."

"I just had a thought about your mum. You never know, you two might end up as brother and sister," Baz gleefully pointed out to Josh and Ellie, and was instantly gladdened by the horrified blush that appeared on both their faces. "Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"Shut up!" Josh snapped in embarrassment, and then shyly said to Ellie, "It might not go that far. They've only just met, remember; and it was only a lift home. Nothing more."

"Yeah," she agreed, but Ellie wasn't consoled very much by that thought.

Fortunately Mrs Burroughs appeared then to start the lesson and they eagerly turned their attention onto her; but their thoughts kept straying back to that horrifying sibling scenario.

* * *

The following Monday had Donna back in John's lesson, keenly learning some algebra, and noticing that he was using his knowledge of her name rather a lot as he posed questions to the group. It did not go unnoticed by the class in general, and several pairs of eyes glared at her in curiosity as the lesson went on. She knew there would be even some interrogation of her afterwards when he airily asked to speak to her before she left the room. 'Thanks for singling me out,' she thought; both in a good and a bad way. The truth was that she rather liked being teacher's pet, even if it only lasted the day.

"How can I help you?" she asked as breezily as she could as the last student left the room, leaving them totally alone. And if her imagination played out a little scenario where he swept her up, grabbed hold of her tight, right before he crushed his lips down onto hers, that wasn't so bad, was it? He was certainly looking at her as if he wanted to.

John nervously cleared his throat. "I've been thinking about it… us… and I erm, I don't want to appear unprofessional."

"Of course not," she sympathised. "We only had a drink together the other night; nothing more. It isn't as if we had a torrid extramarital affair."

"Exactly," he sighed with some relief. She understood, and that instantly made him feel better. "And I will only be here until the end of the month, when Ben will take back the reins, so…"

He was dumping her, she realised, before anything could even start between them. Either she hadn't formed such a great second impression during the lesson or he hadn't liked the look of them all when he'd gone to her mum's house. Who could blame him for being put off by seeing her family? It wasn't the first time it had happened to her after an initial good start.

Nodding desperately, she maintained, "I understand. That's fine. I was going to ask you and Ellie out for a meal next week, seeing as it's Josh's sixteenth birthday the weekend after next, but we can leave that open for the time being. No doubt you are very busy."

Horrified at her tone, he blurted out, "I didn't mean…"

But she was already mentally closing herself off from his rejection, so she interrupted him mid-explanation. "I know you didn't mean to lead me up the wrong path. Things change. Look, we can be adults about this and we don't have to make things awkward between us; for the sake of the kids if not my education. So I'll get those questions you set today done tonight and I'll see you Thursday's lesson."

"Donna!" he cried as she turned to go; but he didn't know what else to say to explain that he merely wanted to wait. "It's only for a few weeks."

"Oh, and a word to the wise, don't keep using me to answer questions like that again," she continued in warning as though he hadn't spoken. "It reeks of favouritism even if mine is the only name you know."

Did she not hear him? Deliberately placing himself in front of her so that she couldn't escape his words, he stressed, "But it IS favouritism, and I have to be honest about that."

"Oh! But that isn't allowed," she futilely argued.

Just at the wrong moment, a young student sauntered in for her next lesson, and he petulantly hissed at her, "GET OUT! Can't you wait five seconds?!"

The poor girl jolted in shock.

"What is your problem?" Donna chastised him.

Horrified at himself as the girl ran out and Donna stared at him in confusion, he combed his fingers through his hair in self comfort. He then defended himself in a hoarse whisper, "I'm sorry, so sorry. I didn't mean to lose my cool like that but we need to talk about this properly. Are you free after college later?"

She shook her head. "No, Mum has to go out so I have to get back home for Josh and Gramps."

"Then how about Thursday, like we did last week?" he proposed, silently willing her to comply.

"Yeah, alright then," she agreed after some seconds, and he visibly deflated in relief.

"It's a date then," he replied.

"But not a date-date," she confirmed; but neither of them was truly satisfied with that.

* * *

The next day in class, Josh was sitting forlornly at his desk when Baz joined him. Throwing his bag dramatically onto the table top in front of them, Baz decided to lighten the mood and tease Josh by asking, "How's everything going with your mum and her new boyfriend?"

Josh momentarily glanced upwards towards where Ellie sat at the desk in front of them before admitting, "It's not."

"What do you mean?" Baz wanted to know.

"It was all a misunderstanding," Josh quietly explained. "He seemed keen, and then he wasn't."

"That's odd," Baz commented. "What went wrong?"

"Probably the usual," Josh sighed as he silently blamed himself. "It's not the first time some bloke has caught sight of me and then dumped Mum seconds later. I know that he didn't try it on with her, like some of them have, because she would have told me."

"What's the matter with him? Your mum's a bit of alright," Baz sympathised. "That's what my dad said when he saw her. Got him into all sorts of trouble with Mum!"

Josh suitably laughed, but the fact was, he was worried. He was also mortified when Baz called across to Ellie, "Here, Ellie! What's the matter with your dad?"

"Shut up, Baz!" Josh begged.

"No, you want to know, and so do I. I like your mum," Baz defended his actions. "Go on, tell us, Ellie. What's changed his tune?"

"I don't know, do I?" Ellie fervently denied. This was all news to her. "It's not up to me who he goes out with."

"Leave her alone. It's not her fault her dad doesn't fancy my mum," Josh tried to halt the embarrassing exchange going on in front of him. "Drop it."

Baz gave him a wan smile in sympathy. "Perhaps instead we could get your mum back together with your dad. Didn't you say he might be coming over here soon?"

Trust him to blab that secret! "He might," Josh warily agreed, "but I doubt if he'll want to see Mum. Not if his girlfriend comes too. She can be a bit fiery."

"She's beautiful," Baz dreamily enthused, thinking of the photos he'd seen of Josh's dad's girlfriend. Another thought then occurred to him. "Hasn't it ever struck you as odd that your dad calls her 'Ginger' when she obviously isn't?"

"No, never," Josh sarcastically replied. "I can't think why he does, at all."

It was obvious that Ellie had been listening because she turned around to ask, "What's so special about the name Ginger?"

"Because Josh's mum is ginger, ain't she," Baz supplied before Josh could stop him. "His dad must miss her."

"Yeah, like a hole in the head. In fact, Dad misses Mum so much so he's gone out of his way to avoid talking or seeing her as much as possible since he done a runner," Josh griped. "He couldn't miss her more if he tried."

This time Baz's expression was apologetic. "So, will you get to see him soon?"

"Who knows," Josh answered dejectedly.

"When's the last time you actually saw him?" Ellie surprised him by asking.

He was secretly pleased that Ellie wanted to know so he thought about that question carefully. "Erm… I've seen Ginger on Skype but Dad wasn't there. Dad's seen the pictures I've sent him, but in the flesh, as it were, I must have been about two, Mum said. Apparently he wanted proof I was his before he paid out any money for my keep. The CSA tried to get him to pay more but he wangled out of it somehow. Never mind. I stop being a bother to him like that next week, so we'll see what happens after." By the end of speaking he'd hid his face from seeing their pity. He didn't need any of that. What he needed was answers, and he was determined to get them from the horse's mouth.

.

When he got home that night his spirits lifted when his Nan told him that a parcel had arrived for him from abroad, and it was sitting waiting for him on his bed.

As soon as Donna stepped through the front she confronted by an overexcited teenage boy who raced down the stairs to greet her.

"Mum! I've got something to show you. Come and see," he demanded as he took hold of her hand and dragged up the stairs towards his bedroom. Laughing, she allowed him to do so, and was soon shown what had excited him so much. "Look what Dad's girlfriend has sent me for my birthday!"

On the bed lay a beautiful black leather jacket; and he hastily held it up against his body for inspection.

She reached out to run a hand over the surface of the jacket, admiring the quality and style of it. "How do you know he didn't pick that jacket out himself for you?"

Josh gave a deep sigh. Did she really have to ask? "You know why. Dad barely remembers I exist. No, this has Ginger written all over it."

"But he does love his leather, remember," she reminded him, not wanting to put Peter down too much in his eyes.

"I suppose so," he answered thoughtfully. "Do you think he'd buy me leather trousers too if I asked him?"

"What do you want leather trousers for?" she laughed. "He only wears them to swan about and try to impress women. Or is that your idea of asking Ellie out on a date – make her swoon at the sight of you and then whisk her off her feet."

He shrugged, blushing at being caught out. "I dunno. It could work."

"Just ask her out," she advised. "Walk up to her, talk face to face, and tell her you would like to take her out on a date. It would only take you a minute to say it. One minute to gain what you've been yearning for all these months."

"But what if she doesn't want to?" he whined.

"You'll never know at this rate." She smiled in a vain attempt to offer comfort. "If she doesn't want to, then you'll have tried your hardest and can move on with your life. But I don't think she will refuse you, honest I don't."

Josh wasn't so sure that it'd be straightforward. "And what about her dad, and you? Won't that be awkward?"

"That's for me to worry about; I refuse to let that hiccup affect you," she insisted. "He's still my tutor and I'm his pupil for now. Nothing can change that."

She was shocked that Josh swept up into his arms and hugged her. "But you liked him, didn't you?"

Unwilling to lie to him, she admitted, "Yes. Yes, I did. So what? It's not the first time this has happened to me, and it won't be the last. I'll get over it eventually, just like I always do, so don't mind me."

With tears in his eyes, he promised, "I'll ask her out tomorrow."

* * *

.

As things turned out, Josh's romantic plans were soon scuppered before he even got the chance to open his mouth and ask his pressing question. Ellie was locked in a fervent discussion with her best friend, Becky; and by the sound of it, she was going away somewhere.

"I really need to get my boots repaired tonight because I'll need them for next week," Ellie added to their conversation.

"You can't do without them," Becky had knowingly answered.

That forced him into finding out what her plans were. "Why? What's happening next week?" Josh wondered as he walked passed them to get to his desk.

Ellie sighed in exasperation. He obviously didn't pay attention to anything they talked about in class in front of him. "I'm going on the History field trip to the War Cemeteries, ain't I? We'll be traipsing through loads of mud in the special museum. Will you miss me?" she mischievously added, hoping against hope that he'd make some sort of declaration.

'I'll miss you loads and loads.' "I might do," he reluctantly admitted.

"Are you doing anything special next week?" Ellie asked, eager for an invite of some sort that would come into play when she got home.

"Nah, nothing at all," he answered in a bored tone. It was on the tip of his tongue to mention his birthday, but what was the point if Ellie wasn't going to be there, but would be in Ypres instead? Even the thought of his customary birthday celebration meal seemed rather like a damp squib if she wasn't around. And to add insult to injury, his mum couldn't afford to take him anywhere posh. As it was, going to McDonalds was rather pushing the boat out, where her finances were concerned. He'd always hated being poor, but it was even worse now that his mum couldn't work as many days of the week as she had previously. What was the point of having that flashy leather coat if he couldn't afford to take Ellie out whilst wearing it? "Might go and check out this new bloke that was chatting Mum up the other day," he added as an afterthought. "Seeing me will soon chase him off."

"Who's that?" Baz inevitably asked when he stuck his nose into the conversation.

"Some bloke who works up near the council depot, called Shaun," Josh supplied. "I was standing there in Asda when he gave her the old blarney, saying she brightened up his day when he saw her. Berk!"

"Careful, Ellie! This Shaun might steal your dad's thunder if he's not pretty sharpish about it," Baz warned her.

"Would you give over!" Josh chided him. "All this interest in my mum; I'm beginning to think you've got a secret crush on her."

To his amusement, Baz immediately went a deep shade of pink. "No!" he hotly denied. "As if!"

But he didn't mention Josh's mum again that day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

.

Donna hadn't been sitting in the lecture room long, ready and waiting for the lesson to begin, when three other female students entered and began fervently whispering between themselves. Obviously it was about her; their intent given away by their frequent glances towards her. After some minutes her anger got to her, and Donna loudly announced to the girls, "Either you tell me what it is that you find so fascinating about me, or you shut the hell up!"

All three looked up guiltily but only one answered. "We weren't…," she started to deny.

"Oh come off it! I may be old but I ain't deaf yet," Donna retorted. "So you might as well tell me."

"It's just…" She visibly sought moral support from her friends. "You were seen with Dr Smith."

"No!" Donna mock gasped, clutching dramatically at her chest. "Was I doing anything good? I do hope so."

"You were coming out of a pub with him," another girl stated accusingly.

"Was I?" Donna nodded to herself as she considered their words. "As far as I know, it isn't illegal for me to enter a pub, or to walk out of one."

"But it is wrong for you to throw yourself at him like that," the first girl added.

"Like how exactly?" Donna queried tartly. "Since you've brought it up, I didn't know there was a right way to throw yourself at a bloke. And no, it didn't happen like that. But thanks for asking me if it was true in the first place. I appreciate it."

There was stony silence for a minute or two.

"Is there something wrong I should know about?" John asked as he entered the room and took in the chilly atmosphere between the four women. "Donna?"

Oh, she just knew he'd ask her first to explain! Giving him a glare, she answered, "All sorted now, Dr Smith. Nothing to worry about." A few twirls of her pen later, she was ready to get on with the lesson.

But she also knew she hadn't convinced him, and inevitably he later made his way over to her during a lull in the lesson to quietly ask, "What was that really all about earlier when I walked in?"

Without looking up from her notepad for more than a couple of seconds as she worked on an example problem, she murmured, "I'll tell you later."

Alas the exchange had been noted by the Witchettes of Eastwick, as she had quickly dubbed them, and correctly anticipated that they would watch her leaving the room once the lesson was over. Despite her waiting for everyone else to leave first, as she usually did, they hovered in the corridor outside the doorway, like wannabe vultures. John had noisily shuffled his papers and whispered to her as she walked passed, "Don't forget you promised."

Giving him the merest nod of agreement, she fixed her eyes on her would-be tormentors. 'Go on, give me an excuse to slap you,' she silently dared them. Fortunately they responded to the unspoken message and left her well alone after that.

.

It also meant that she ended up without having anyone to eat lunch with as the other members of her class avoided her in fear. That is, she didn't until her friend Carol appeared with a laden tray. "Hello Donna," she greeted her and sat down beside her uninvited. "You don't mind me sitting here, do you?"

"No," Donna politely agreed. And the truth was, she was thankful to have someone willingly sit with her. The other students were still wary of keeping company. "How have you been?"

"Fine," Carol responded as she shifted plates about on her tray. "I'm glad I caught you because I wanted to have a quick word."

"Oh?" Donna queried. Had those three girls complained about her? "What did you want to say?"

Carol smiled warmly. "I wanted to run an idea by you, seeing as you're the expert."

It was no good, Donna was completely puzzled now. "Expert on what?"

"On Dr Smith," Carol answered, biting into her meal. "After the other night I assume you and him are firm friends."

"Well, I wouldn't quite put it like that," Donna cagily replied.

But Carol merely waved her hand about in dismissal. "You know him more than anyone else does around here. And don't try to deny it because you've always been good at forming male friends."

"You could put it that way," Donna agreed, thinking of her serial romantic mishaps. "So what did you want to know about him?"

For a moment Carol looked a little hesitant. "I bumped into him outside the staffroom yesterday, and I think we had a bit of a moment; you know how it is. But someone said that they think he is widowed and still grieving. So would it be daft of me to ask him out?"

That was nowhere near to what Donna had been expecting to hear. For a second she spluttered in shock. Carol certainly fulfilled all the criteria John had been looking for in a romantic attachment, the most obvious one being that she wasn't a student and she didn't have a child. "As far as I know, he is widowed, so they were right about that," she unwillingly supplied. "He also has a daughter who is almost sixteen, I should warn you."

"I wasn't thinking of proposing to him," Carol pointed out, "merely getting together with him and hopefully… you know… other things would happen." She added in a playful wriggle to emphasise her words.

Yes, she knew all too well what could happen next. Despite her best intentions, Donna could feel her cheeks flare up in embarrassment at her friend's eager tone. "That isn't for me to say, since I'm not that big a friend of his."

"You looked pretty friendly when I saw you in the pub together," Carol countered, now intrigued by her friend's blazing cheeks. "Unless I got it all wrong and you have designs on him yourself."

"Who me?! Don't be daft," Donna denied, waving away the thought. "I was merely trading sympathy about single parent-dom, like you do. My Josh knows his daughter."

"There you go! You just proved my point," Carol bragged. "If you don't know, no one will."

Bugger! Since when did she become the unofficial authority on Dr John Smith? "All I know is that he isn't going out with anyone at the moment."

"Then that's good enough for me," Carol declared. "I'll let you know how I get on with enticing him out with me."

"Yes, do," Donna answered, trying hard to keep any trace of sarcasm out of her voice; but it was far from what she wanted to hear. All it did was set her on edge.

.

Despite calming down, she was still apprehensive as she made her way into the pub after college and looked for John in the bar. She soon saw him, sat at a table in the far corner with his back to the general crowd. A broad smile broke out across his face once he saw her meandering through the patrons, however, and he quickly waved her over to join him.

"Good to see you. I was a bit worried that you'd been delayed so I got you a drink, I hope that's okay," he babbled as she sat down opposite him and made herself comfortable by taking off her jacket and plonking her bag down.

"That's fine," she assured him, "but apparently me being seen with you in here isn't allowed, according to those girls this morning."

"Oh, I see," he acknowledged, feeling a little embarrassed. "In some respects I suppose they're right, which is partly why I wanted to talk in private to you."

"Call this private," she scoffed, pointing out their surroundings by throwing her hands wide. "If you genuinely wanted to do that, you could have phoned me up."

"Well… I could have done that." He jerked his head to the side as he organised his thoughts. "I also wanted to speak to you face to face. We still have Ellie and Josh to consider in all this."

Her anger flared. "Don't you dare hold this against Josh! It isn't his fault."

"Oh no, I wouldn't," he vowed, shocked that he had evoked her protective reaction. "And I'm not just saying that because Ellie would never forgive me. No, what I'm trying to say is that we need to step back from each other for a couple of weeks, until I return to the university."

"Pardon?" She shook her head in confusion. "What exactly are we stepping back from? Because we can't magically stop being teacher and pupil; not without me dropping out of college, and I have no intention of doing that, not after the commitment I've already made."

"What sort of commitment?" he warily asked, intrigued by what he could be stirring up.

"Oh, just your average little ones, like giving up paid employment, my own two bedroomed flat, my son's sanity, and quite possibly my own," she supplied. "You know; little things like that." The sob that accompanied the end of her words had not been intended, and she instantly regretted it.

"Donna," he softly said, and reached across to take her hands within his, adding in a gentle rub with his thumbs. "I don't want you to give up anything else, and nor do I want to risk my own job."

"How on earth does having a drink in a pub equate to all that?" she wondered, and then saw the flicker of something within his eyes. Something deeper that made her heart flutter stupidly with probably misguided anticipation.

"As I said, I can't risk it," he near whispered.

So she nodded her head. "Then we don't do anything, not a thing," she agreed. "And we should probably start with you not holding my hand," she pointed out.

He instantly released his hold on her and abruptly sat back. "Sorry."

"You're a bit of a berk on the quiet, aren't you," she teased. "For someone who's frightened of the risks, you aren't doing much to avoid me."

Shrugging his shoulders, he admitted, "No, it seems not."

It took one glance at each other and they burst into snorts of amusement, laughing guiltily together.

"How about we just stick to being nothing more than friends outside the classroom," she offered, hoping to appease him. "There are enough complications in our lives as it is, what with our children soon to be dating and everything."

A large part of his hopes died in that moment, but he had to agree that she was right. "Then friends it is." 'For the time being,' he mentally tacked on.

'I can do this,' she confidently told herself, 'I can be the best friend EVER!' After all, it was a skill she had finely honed with blokes during her years as an adult woman, one that had had to come to the forefront with the father of her only child.

Inevitably her thoughts wandered onto him as she sat there facing another failed romance. Oh how she had loved Peter with all her heart! And oh how he had completely ignored all that and run off with the next pretty face that took his fancy. So powerful had been his urge to escape her clutches, he'd even completely changed country and gone to find permanent work in the US, which started when he was offered a temporary position working in some casino. A huge part of her had envied him all that as she battled with nappies and her mother's ever increasing scorn.

The saving grace in her life back then had been her health visitor, Maddie. She'd helped Donna with many a kind word; and her writing a letter to assist Donna in finding her own council flat had been both a godsend and a sanity saver. Donna's gratitude for that had continued right up until she had had to relinquish her little flat and return to the family home; to live in regret while she evaded complete poverty again.

But the experience had taught her self-sufficiency, rigid organisational skills, that children do not need fancy toys to be entertained, but they do need love; and she had loads to give to her wee son. She adored him with every ounce of her being, and would have moved heaven and earth for him if she could. As it was, all she'd done was force him to move homes and into a foreign bedroom, but he hadn't grumbled once; much to her relief. But then, she had carefully discussed everything with him first before making any decision that affected them both. Always had done.

Bearing this in mind, as her thoughts returned to the room, she asked John as pleasantly as she could, "How's Ellie?"

This was a much safer topic for him to talk about. "Ellie? Still fretting that Josh might not like her, and asking me oodles of questions about you in the vain hope of gleaning information about him."

"It sounds like she's got it bad," Donna commiserated. "Weirdly enough, Josh hardly asks me anything about you."

John frowned. "That is weird." He'd hoped the boy would be more than slightly interested in him; and then he remembered something Ellie had said had happened in class. "Perhaps he is worried about finally seeing his dad after all this time."

"His dad?!" Donna was rather taken aback for a few seconds. She then took a deep breath and explained, "I got an email saying Peter is coming back to this country because he has an interview on some chat show soon, so he might manage to find the time to see Josh, but nothing definite has been arranged."

"Chat show?!" John spluttered, almost choking on his drink. "Why would he be interviewed on something like that?"

"He er..." She took hold of a paper napkin that sat on the table top in front of her and viciously swirled it within her hands. There was nothing more that she hated doing then talking about the success of her ex. "He was featured in some documentary on Sky TV, about Brits earning their way in the States; and apparently he had a cameo role in a Hollywood film. We've never been able to afford Sky so I've no idea what he did or what they said about him."

"Well..." John was flabbergasted to hear this. "He must be doing alright if he's known enough to be picked." He eyed her tighten her hold on that napkin. 'It's a good job that isn't someone's neck,' he idly thought.

"You could say that," she allowed. "He may be a lot of things but he always was determined to get things right and is highly ambitious."

That peaked John's curiosity. "So what does he do exactly?"

She felt herself cringe as the expected words came out of his mouth. "Peter's in show business, got a unique act, as a magician," she revealed. "Quite a good one, by all accounts. Okay, I admit it; I google him from time to time to see what he's up to."

Amazed that she'd have to do that, he asked, "Doesn't he regularly keep in touch with you?"

"No." She shook her head and at last released her strangle hold on the paper napkin. "Josh has heard quite a bit more since Peter shacked up with his latest girlfriend, but otherwise no. He's not one for idle chitchat, and remembering birthdays was always a bit beneath him."

The bitterness behind her words was not lost on John, and he wondered what tale lay in her past. "I'm pretty good at them," he boasted.

That gained him a reluctant smile. "It's easy to imagine that you are. I bet you remember anniversaries rather well too." Obviously he did, because she saw his face fall in grief. "Sorry," she quickly apologised, "I'm so sorry. The last thing you want is for us to discuss your wife."

"I don't mind," he stated in a small voice.

"I think you do," she countered, and considered how to change the subject in order to spare his feelings.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I am so sorry about the long delay in updating anything; and I apologise now for any mistakes I've made with this scenario - it's been an awfully long time since I stepped into a bowling alley.

* * *

**Part 5**

.

Another topic of conversation soon occurred to Donna. "How did your second week go? I bet you still long to return to your university job."

Of course John noted that she was changing the direction of their talk again, and wondered how often she felt that she had to do that. It rather endeared her to him as he felt his gratitude as he allowed her to distract him from thinking about his late wife. The rawness had faded bit it still hurt. "It's been a mixture of good and bad; but I will be glad to get back to my own job. Nothing against Ben, but I wouldn't want to do this full time."

"Not even if you take into consideration your fan club amongst the female members of staff?" she couldn't resist teasing. At least this way she could find out if he had contemplated going out with her friend Carol.

"My what?!" he spluttered, almost losing the mouthful of beer he had taken in. "I assure you there is no such thing," he added modestly.

"Oh yeah?" she murmured disbelievingly. "That's not what I've heard. You can practically take your pick."

His face grew pinker in colour. "I have no intention of choosing anyone else….else I could get myself into trouble," he stammered, hoping desperately that he had covered himself in light of their new 'just friends' agreement. "Did you make any plans for Josh's birthday?"

She sat stunned for a few seconds. He'd remembered! That had never happened before. "Normally I take him out, just him and me, but I can't afford what he wanted this year," she reluctantly admitted. "So it will be a special cake from Asda and a meal cooked by Mum, I suppose."

"What was it that he fancied doing?" John asked, as though he had no agenda when in fact his mind was racing through possibilities.

"Bowling in that new place up by Sainsbury's. He fancied trying out a bowling alley seeing as we've never been," she supplied. "Perhaps I can save up for it next year instead, or use it as an after exam treat."

"Or I could arrange it," he proposed, and then hurried on to pad out his suggestion in order to persuade her. "You could take him and then Ellie could appear as if we hadn't intended to meet up. It would be perfect for them; and it'd totally be my treat."

"I couldn't let you do that," she fervently declined his request. "You've only met him the once so it wouldn't seem right."

"But Ellie would want me to treat him," John countered, warming to this idea. "It needn't be a big deal; just some bowling, having fun whilst we make fools of ourselves, and perhaps a bite to eat later."

"Are you sure? And what would we say if he rumbled us?" she wondered, loving this idea already.

"We have a readymade excuse, remember," he pointed out.

She frowned. "We do? I must be having a thick moment because I'm not with you."

Clearly not, yet. So he leaned in to whisper, "Us. Our excuse is us. We can pretend to be an item so that they can get together."

That clinched it in her mind. If he was prepared to suggest this, why shouldn't she enjoy it? "You're on, mate!" she enthused.

In fact she felt so good about it that she accepted his offer for a lift home from the pub too. Let the Witchettes of Eastwick pick the bones out of that one, she wanted to laugh!

.

The scowls in her direction continued during their maths lessons, but she could weather it as long as Carol joined her for lunch. And the huge plus point was that she could tell Josh he was getting his trip to the bowling alley after all.

"Can Baz come too?" he had eagerly asked when she made her announcement about having the funds after all.

"Oh, I don't know, Josh," she had started her denial. "I can only afford so much and I can't stretch to another one. Sorry, darling."

"That's okay, Mum," he answered brightly, making her love him even more. "It'll be good to be just you and me for a few hours."

How she had then not squealed loudly in excitement "Not for long!" she would never know. But she was sure he'd love the surprise they'd planned for him.

In fact John had suggested that they meet again after college on the Thursday to iron out the details of their plan. It also gave him another opportunity to spend time with her away from the classroom. That was the excuse they were using in that instance. He'd booked them into the bowling alley as soon as he'd got home after making his suggestion, and if he used handing over the relevant tickets to Donna as a means to get closer, that was excusable too.

Spending time with her sent a wonderful thrill through his body. He couldn't explain exactly what it was about her that caught his interest, apart from the obvious physical assets she possessed or her sense of humour because, truth be told, she wasn't an outstanding beauty but there was some indefinable quality that attracted him. Every second he spent in her company was cherished and revisited later.

As he dropped her off back home that evening, his spirits soared in anticipation. Ellie would be back in a few hours from her school trip away, he'd also booked them a meal with Josh and his mum, as a special birthday surprise treat, and they would all be together… _like a family_, something whispered to him. That thought was far too pleasant for its own good.

.

The loud sound of bowling balls hitting something solid reverberated around the room as Donna and Josh entered the bowling alley. It was almost as loud as the décor that leapt out at them using various colours, unlike the sombre black colours Josh had chosen to wear in fairly typical teenage style. But it had taken very little persuasion to get him to put on his new jacket from his dad. Donna thought he looked very distinguished in it, and hoped that it would turn many a head. Josh was in awe as they walked up to the shoe bank and traded in their footwear.

"Which lane is ours, Mum?" he asked as he finished tying his laces and stood up.

She double checked the tickets before stating, "Number fifteen, down the end."

He almost bounded off in excitement, making sure that she was following. "What do we do now?"

"Choose a bowling ball, I suppose," she suggested. "I've not done this before either, remember."

"Perhaps I can help you?" a male voice behind her offered, and they both turned to see John standing there.

From his position waiting for them in the bowling alley, John had easily seen them enter the public space and gradually make their way towards him. But they obviously hadn't been looking in his direction as he sat watching; so he had been left to enjoy the view as Donna sashayed towards him. The swing of her hips always had an effect on him, and the outfit she had on was particularly good at emphasising her curves, whilst the neckline was low enough to give him a glimpse of green pastures. He had waited until they had bumbled about before leisurely getting up to join them. The look of surprise on their faces at the sound of his voice was priceless.

"John! Fancy seeing you here. Are you on your own?" she asked, acting her socks off. My, he looked rather tasty too, in his casual wear.

"No, I'm waiting for Ellie to get back from the toilet," he supplied, grinning at Josh. "I hear it's your birthday. Many happy returns!"

"Thank you!" Josh gleefully replied before looking around to see where Ellie had got to. He didn't have long to wait before she arrived, wearing a face splitting smile to greet him with. "Hello Ellie."

Bathing in his rapt attention, she replied, "Hello Josh. Nice jacket."

"Thanks," he enthused. "I got it for my birthday."

"Nothing to do with me," Donna hastily chimed it, in case John wondered how she really spent her money. "It came from his dad."

"Is this your mum?" Ellie wondered, intrigued to see this woman she had heard much about, in glowing words.

"Oh, erm."

Seeing the boy slightly flounder, John took over. "Ellie, this is my friend Donna. Donna, may I present my daughter Ellie."

Both Donna and Ellie exchanged greetings. "It's lovely to finally meet you, Ellie. Blimey, you can see she's your daughter," Donna noted as she took in the girl's large amber eyes and curly brown hair that framed her face beautifully. "But in a pretty way," she quickly added.

Josh laughed. "Trust you, Mum. Ellie is very pre…." He stammered to a halt when Ellie looked at him expectantly, and nervously rubbed his neck. "You know," he lamely tacked on.

"So how are we going to do this?" John asked, distracting them. "How about we team up? We can do boys versus girls, Smiths versus Nobles, or me and Donna against you two. Your choice, Josh, as birthday boy."

"Well erm," Josh carefully considered, and glanced at Ellie's pleased expression. "Seeing as we're new to this, it would be better if we played together. It might be fun if we had us two against you two oldies."

He then giggled at Donna's exclamation of "Cheek!" in reaction to the 'oldies' term.

Clapping his hands together decisively, John proclaimed, "That's all sorted then.

.

It soon became evident how much Donna and Josh actually were new to this game, and whilst Ellie was giving Josh eager support from the side-lines as he quickly picked up the required skills, Donna was faring much worse. This needed a more personal approach, John decided, as her neat behind was displayed in front of him during her latest attempt to keep the ball out of the guttering.

"Let me help," he offered, stepping up to almost wrap himself around her from behind in order to guide her arm. "Try swinging it like this," he suggested low into her ear.

She could feel the goose bumps forming on her neck as she wrestled to take her attention away from him and place it on the task in hand. "Like this?" she asked as she released the ball.

There was some improvement, and she actually hit a pin this time.

"That's better," John commented as she squealed with delight. "Let's try again."

From their position sat in front of the scoreboard, Ellie rolled her eyes at her father's antics as he danced about demonstrating basic skills for Donna's sake. "Who is he kidding," she remarked quietly to Josh. "He was all 'we're just friends, nothing more' when I got home last night from France, but just look at him."

Josh certainly knew that his mother was enjoying the close attention from John, but it wasn't the sort of thing he personally wanted to witness, especially if it turned out to be a windup. "I must admit that he wasn't like that last time I saw him. Then again, we were sitting with Nan and Gramps, and Nan isn't keen on normal touching."

"What do you mean by 'normal touching'?" Ellie asked, still keeping part of her attention on her dad, and the competitive part of their game that had long disappeared.

"Oh, things like holding hands or cuddling with Mum. We used to always have a cuddle on the settee of an evening when we lived in our own place, but Nan grumbles really loudly about it," Josh explained. "Don't mean we've stopped it completely," he mischievously added. "Mum said a cuddle is always worth being moaned at."

"Your Nan sounds a bit…" Ellie sought desperately for the right word.

"She is," Josh agreed, having probably guessed the right word. "Very." He then stood to go and have his own next attempt to play.

.

A short while later they decided to call it a day and Ellie and Josh were declared the winners. "Who's hungry?" John asked them all expectantly. "Shall we grab something to eat here, or would you prefer somewhere else?" Both scenarios had been planned for, and he'd impressed himself by booking a table in a nearby restaurant just in case.

"I'm starving," Josh replied. "And I don't mind where we eat."

After hastily looking into her purse to check how much money she had on her, Donna answered, "Wherever you recommend will be fine."

John considered their casual but smart clothing and decided that it was probably best they eat traditional teenage food. "We'll eat here." He led them to an in-house burger place, and suggested that Donna and Ellie grab them a comfortable table; waving off Donna's attempt to hand him some money to pay for it all. "As I said yesterday; it's my treat. Josh can help me carry the food."

Josh eagerly followed him, rather liking this new position of responsibility; he'd never had that before. When asked, he instantly knew what Donna would want because there was only one thing she'd risk having in such a place. "Mum would like the cheeseburger."

"Ellie will have the veggie burger; and what about you, Josh. What would the birthday boy like?" John magnanimously offered in Josh's direction.

"Are you sure?" With a wary glance to where his mother had gone to sit with Ellie, Josh proclaimed, "The double bacon cheeseburger, please!"

Having entered the choices into his till, the server then landed his enquiries on John. "And what would dad like?"

"Erm… I'll er… I'll have the double bacon cheeseburger too, please," John stammered before handing over his debit card. "What?!" he demanded of the giggling Josh once the server had walked away to deal with their order.

"Nothing," Josh playfully lied, "Dad."

"Watch it," John growled, although he could feel his own amusement overwhelming him.

.

Ellie looked nervously at Donna as they walked towards their chosen seats. "Are you going to be my stepmother?" she asked once she was seated in front of her.

Donna laughed merrily in denial. "I very much doubt it," she assured the girl. "Me and your dad are merely friends; nothing more." And then she remembered John's covering story. "Well, when I say that, we'd like to be more, you know. But it's complicated right now."

"Why is it complicated?" Ellie inevitably wondered. "If you like each other, then you just go out together."

"You'd think it'd be as simple as that, wouldn't you," Donna agreed. "To be honest, I don't know what he sees in me. He could have any woman he likes… Any woman he isn't teaching, that he likes, I should change that to."

"I suppose so," Ellie commented.

"Can I ask you something?" Donna suddenly queried whilst she had the chance. "How old were you when you when you were left on your own with your dad?"

"You mean when Mum died?" Ellie's expression slightly dropped. "I was four, and don't really remember much about her. Just some vague memories of her lying in the hospital after her car accident, with all these things attached to her, monitoring her coma."

"I'm so sorry that you lost her," Donna sincerely voiced. "You've had a long time with your dad all to yourself, so I'm going to say to you what I said to Josh."

That perked up Ellie's attention. "What was that?"

Taking in an encouraging breath, Donna continued, "If you don't like this relationship for any reason, and I mean IF; I will end it before things get too serious, because you are far more important than some romantic wish list."

Ellie blushed. She hadn't expected that, and was extremely touched. "Thank you. Dad doesn't seem to know what he's doing."

"Tell me something new about a bloke because they never do," Donna joked, gaining a smile from her companion. "The idea here is to have fun, so promise me you'll tell me if it isn't."

"I will," Ellie readily swore, and relaxed a great deal more into this new situation, determined to enjoy being close to Josh.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**

.

One pleasant meal later, full of teasing about their playing skills, there was a convenient lapse in the conversation when John and Ellie went to dispose of their trays before they aimed for the exit on their way home.

"Well," Donna surreptitiously whispered to Josh as they started to walk towards their bus stop, "did you ask her out?"

He grimaced back at her. "I can't do that right in front of her dad, can I?"

"But he said it was alright," she hastily assured him. "He doesn't mind you going out with Ellie."

"No, Mum. He doesn't mind going out with YOU," Josh countered. "That puts a whole different spin on things."

There was only the chance to throw him a disbelieving look before John bound up to them, his face lit up by a very smug grin. "Oh no you don't! You can't escape from us that easily. How about I give you two a lift home?"

"You've already done enough for us, John," she protested.

But he was insistent. "I am taking you home, so no arguments. Come on, come and sit in the front with me, Donna."

His enthusiasm was infectious. "Alright then, you talked me into it," Donna replied, loving his masterful attitude as he ushered her off to his car.

Behind them, the two teenagers silently laughed together. "Does he really think we can't see what he's doing?" Ellie whispered to Josh.

"As plain as the nose on his face," he gleefully agreed.

"So what happens next?" Ellie wondered, and then slightly faltered. "Since you kind of said this sort of thing has happened with your mum before… Sorry."

He found her nervousness adorable. "To be honest, I don't know. It doesn't normally go this well. Before, it's always been the bloke saying 'can't we get rid of the kid?' and then Mum telling him to bog off." Josh shrugged. "I quite like this time around."

"Me too," Ellie enthused, sharing a thrilled grin with him.

It was beginning to look as though she'd get to spend as much time as she liked with him and what more could she ask for? Apart from him asking her out, of course, but that might never happen. Except she really wanted it to.

It was obvious as they pulled up outside the house that nobody was home. Thank gawd for that, Donna thought; and instantly made the most of it. "Would you like to come in for a tea or coffee?" she brightly asked.

It was agreed that they would, so Donna let them all into the house, switching on lights as she went.

"I'll make the tea. Josh, you take Ellie in to the front room and I'll bring in your birthday cake to cut in a moment."

"Okay, Mum," he brightly answered. "This way, Ellie."

Donna grabbed hold of John's sleeve and dragged him with her into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. "You can help, mister."

It was her turn to take charge; and he found that he loved that aspect of her personality. Without too much prompting, he let himself be guided in collecting mugs from a cupboard, and milk from the fridge. It all had a wonderfully familiar sense of belonging about it, he noted.

.

"Do you want the telly on?" Josh instantly offered to break the sudden silence between the two teens as they sat on the sofa in the front parlour. They'd idly chatted in the car but this felt more ominous.

Ellie nervously picked at the thread of the hem of her sleeve. "No, that's okay. Unless you want the telly on, of course. Otherwise I'm quite happy to sit here."

He weighed up the pros and cons of getting up or staying right by her side. "I can live without it," he declared. "The telly, I mean, and not the sitting next to you part, because this is nice; if you see what…" He gave a nervous cough to clear his throat. "This is the first time I've seen you dressed." When her eyebrows shot up in shock and panic, he quickly realised his mistake. "Oh God no! I didn't… I wasn't…. Honest, I don't go around like some Peeping Tom. Even if I did, I don't know where you live. But I really wouldn't act like some sicko. I was talking about seeing you wearing something different to your school uniform."

Calming down, she immediately saw the funny side, and burst into laughter that was heightened by her anxiety. "You had me worried for a second. And it's nice to see you in normal clothes too; especially that jacket," she shyly added. "Why didn't you say in school that it was your birthday?"

"And risk getting the bumps?! No thank you. I made that mistake in the past, and it flipping hurt." He then thoughtfully added, "Mum couldn't afford anyone coming with us, so it seemed wrong to say anything and hurt Baz's feelings."

She shifted slightly nearer. "You seem to think a lot about other people's feelings. I like that."

He slightly blushed. "Well, it's only what any decent person would do; nothing special."

"I think it is. Far too many boys are ignorant pigs," she stated, enjoying the blush as it intensified on his face. "But underneath it all you're not like that."

"I hope not," he admitted, gulping. Was this his moment to ask his question?

The thought of him being hurt by previous birthday antics had made her want to offer to kiss any pain away; and replaying that in her mind made her realise something else entirely. "I forgot to wish you happy birthday!" she cried, appalled at herself for the omission. "I'm so sorry. Happy birthday, Josh."

"That's okay." He smiled with delight. "No need to beat yourself up over it or… or… or…" Oh dear! He'd thought it now, so he'd have to complete the sentence. "… Kiss me to wish me a happy birthday." His face flushed an even deeper red; and weirdly enough, so did hers. "But if you want to, help yourself," he attempted to nonchalantly continue. If his bravado worked, then it'd be worth it.

That rather put her on the spot. Did he want a real and proper kiss from her, or just some lame sentiment? Ellie wasn't sure in that moment. I mean, he'd been nothing but friendly towards her, but he also hadn't asked her out, so that rather implied that he merely liked her company as a friend. Not wanting to risk looking a complete fool, whilst yearning to place her lips upon his, she dipped forward and quickly pressed her lips onto his cheek while her courage lasted.

Josh had just started to turn his head and utter the words to ask her out, when the door handle rattled, making them jump; and the moment of opportunity was gone.

.

Out in the kitchen, things had been taking a similar path.

As they stood by the mugs, waiting for the kettle to boil, John professed, "Next week I'm having a leaving drinks do in the staffroom. Would you…? I'd like you to be there."

"Wouldn't that be for staff only?" Donna worried. "They'd chuck me out."

"Normally yes," he admitted, moving close, "but you'd be there officially as my friend. That's if you want to be. So will you come along on Friday after you've finished work? I want to celebrate the fact that this time next week I'll be free"

"You're celebrating getting rid of me?" she half joked. "And there was me thinking we were getting on okay"

He leaned in closer. "In case you were truly wondering, I'll be celebrating that I'll be free to do more than be friends with you."

"You will?" she breathily queried, unable to believe he was hinting that things could really progress between them.

His arm reached out to wrap around her waist in order to pull her against him. "Oh yes. Donna, I'd like to take you out after that; as my girlfriend or whatever name you give to people our age. And… May I do something I've been yearning to do for ages?"

"What's that, borrow my mascara?" she teased, using more humour to try and deflect her nervousness.

"It's more to do with your lips," he whispered as he slowly brought his face directly in front of hers; within touching distance. "Can I…?"

The rest of his request disappeared into the ether as he pressed forward and for a glorious fleeting moment their lips met in a sweet, tender kiss.

His mouth felt so warm and soft against hers, and she immediately wanted to kiss him again. "What happened to just friends?" she quietly asked, grinning. "Bugger it, I say. And I do need to thank you for tonight."

With that, she met him halfway.

.

"That looks like Donna's John's car," Wilf noted as he and Sylvia walked up to their front door.

"Don't let her hear you say that about him. You know how touchy she gets about these things when you pair her off," Sylvia commented as she opened the door. "I can't hear much. You go in and see what's going on and I'll go put the kettle on. I'm gasping for a cup of tea."

"Right you are," Wilf cheerfully agreed.

Waiting a few beats as Sylvia strode away from him; Wilf took hold of the door handle to the front parlour and walked in. What he saw was Josh sitting on their best sofa with a pretty young girl by his side. "Oh! You're in here then. Who's this with you?"

Josh blushed a deep beetroot colour before stammering out, "Gramps, this is Ellie, from school. Her and her dad were at the bowling alley when we got there, so we spent the evening with them. They've erm brought us home. Mum is out in the kitchen making us all tea and will bring my cake in."

It didn't take Sylvia long to reach the kitchen dinette, and any joy she felt faded just as quickly as she stepped in to see her daughter Donna releasing her hold on John. It was clear to all and sundry that they had just been kissing. "And what do you think you're doing in my kitchen?!"

"Good evening," John greeted her as cheerfully as he could.

"Mum! We didn't expect you back yet," Donna exclaimed at the same time.

"Obviously not," Sylvia griped as she picked up the kettle to test its weight to see if it held any water before switching it back on. "You didn't make any tea either, I see. Make yourself useful and sort the mugs and cake out. We'll need plates."

The next half an hour went reasonably pleasantly by, with them singing happy birthday to Josh, dishing out his cake, once he'd made his birthday wish, and drinking their tea. Wilf quizzed Josh about his bowling trip and John added in the odd explanation or two. Donna was immensely relieved that her mother hadn't dragged up anything else in the meantime; but she also knew it wouldn't last. Her luck just didn't run that way. She had said a fond goodbye to their visitors, waving them off before to returning to the lounge, when she heard the clear voice of her mother float out to her.

"What do you think I found," Sylvia moaned to Josh and her father sitting on the sofa. "Only Donna snogging that John fella."

Both mortification and anger filled her. "Mum, it was only a small thank you kiss," Donna called out in exasperation. "Nothing more."

"Pft! She says that now, but that's the way she used to kiss your father," Sylvia informed Josh. "All over him like a rash, she was, half the time. Couldn't keep her hands off him."

"She was?" Josh wondered, sitting up straighter in interest. Normally he heard nothing about this sort of thing in their relationship. "What did Dad do?"

"Him?!" Sylvia exclaimed in disgust. "I almost had to prise them apart. No wonder your mother ended up pregnant by the age of nineteen. If your father hadn't skipped off like the coward he is, Donna would have been lumbered with goodness knows how many kids by now, living off the state on benefits in some hovel. Thankfully I put paid to all that."

"He had some good points, Sylvia," Wilf spoke up, "and we ended up with Josh here, so it's not all bad news."

"Yes, well," Sylvia conceded, moving her head from side to side. "Josh is a very special lad. He inherited some good genes from his grandparents." Taking that as her best leaving shot, she walked out and headed towards the kitchen.

To her surprise Donna was lying in wait for her; an angry scowl on her face. She'd already paced up and down the hallway in a temper. "I seem to remember that you've found plenty to boast about where Peter is concerned."

"I never…!" Sylvia began to deny.

"Yes you did!" Donna insisted. "I've heard you bragging about Josh to your friends, saying he must have got his brains from his father. Don't deny it because Suzette told me too."

"I might have boasted how clever our Josh is," Sylvia reluctantly allowed, "just a few times."

"Oh yeah? You think!" Donna scorned, now getting into her stride. "You seem to forget how wonderful you once thought Peter was; how I was apparently distracting him from his studies by going out with him."

"Well, you were. That boy was extremely smart and he was going places. You would have held him back," Sylvia insisted. "Just look what happened. In some respects he was right to run off and leave you pregnant."

"Thanks Mum. It's so lovely to have your support," Donna sarcastically retorted. "Isn't it funny how well you can speak about him when you hated him at the time?"

"Of course I did." Sylvia glared at her daughter. "Look at how he treated you in the end. He came from nothing and with his background he would have been nothing but trouble if you'd stayed with him. Those sort always are. We didn't even know what his parents were like."

"That's because they were dead. How can you have forgotten that? You could hardly blame Peter for the fact they were murdered right in front of him," Donna countered. "He needed a family to accept him, desperately, and all you could do was sneer at him for being an orphan in care."

Sylvia grimaced at the memory. "You always did think far too much of him for your own good."

"Mum, I loved him. Can't you see that?" Donna was near to tears now. "I've never understood why you thought that was so wrong."

"He dressed weird," Sylvia argued.

Donna threw her hands up in defeat. "How dare he try and be an individual. How dare he rebel against all that rejection by ostracising himself? But most of all, how dare he fell in love with me."

"You've got that right," Sylvia bit back. "You've always been better off without him in your life, and I proved that right."

"I shall never know, will I," Donna sadly stated, "because he ran off and escaped from me. Silly, useless, stupid me, who can only be a short distraction for any half decent bloke."

There was no denial from Sylvia. "I really don't know why you are dragging all this up now…"

"Don't you, Mum?" Donna blazed. "When you felt compelled to point out to Josh that you thought I enticed John into kissing me just like I used to Peter. I was 'all over him like a rash' I think you said."

"I might have done," Sylvia defended herself, adding in a small sniff, "and you did. You two were like rabbits, hardly leaving each other alone."

Donna huffed an ironic laugh. "That takes the biscuit, that does. Why did I even expect you to say something nice?"

"Lord only knows," Sylvia commented. "Have you finished yelling at me?"

"Yes," Donna quietly answered in defeat. "I'm going to bed."

"Going to dream up more ways you can use John to get good grades, are you?" Sylvia asked as Donna headed for the door.

"Argh!" Donna groaned out frustration, and slammed the door shut behind her.

.

Twenty minutes later she wasn't surprised to see Josh sneak into her bedroom and sidle up to her bed. "Mum? Are you okay?" he whispered in concern into the gloom.

Clearing her nose, she came out from under her bedcovers and did her best to smile at him. "I'm fine," she denied, and opened her arms to welcome him into a hug.

He immediately took the invite and snuggled into her body. "I heard you arguing with Nan," he informed her, as if she hadn't suspected. "It's the first time I've ever heard you talk about Dad as if he was nice."

"Perhaps I've finally forgiven him," she suggested, tenderly stroking his hair. "Miracles do happen." She then took in a breath before stating, "I'm sorry for shouting on your birthday and spoiling everything. Nan really gets my goat at times with the way she changes opinions like the wind."

"It's okay, Mum, I understand," he mumbled from somewhere next to her skin. "Did Dad really see his parents get murdered?"

"Yes he did," she confirmed, and kissed his forehead. "They never caught the bloke who did it, so your dad's lived in fear they'd get him too, for years. I've always wondered if that was the real reason he ran away."

"I wish I could ask him for you," Josh sleepily replied.

"One day we'll find out," she assured him. "Until then, tell no one about it, no matter who they are."

"I promise," he readily vowed.


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING:** contains swearing  
**A/N:** sorry about the swearing but that's the effect Peter has.

* * *

**Part 7**

.

In a flurry of text messages and hurried phone calls, after many apologies from him it had been agreed that John had rather jumped the gun with their relationship, and nothing like that would happen again until they could officially declare they were together. So there had been nothing more than a merest touch of hands; where fingertips smoothed along a yearned for path, at the end of the maths lessons in college. It had even been decided to forego their usual after college drink on Thursday night in case it led to something else that incriminated him. The Witchettes of Eastwick had already complained to the head of the maths department, Anna Forsythe. Fortunately she had told them that it only seemed like student-teacher fraternisation when she could assure them that everything was innocent; but she had warned John to keep away from Donna until he had returned to the safety of the university. The college had a reputation to maintain, after all, despite her lack of personal objections.

John could do nothing but comply. As he had said to Donna on that Friday night when they had given in to temptation, he couldn't wait to do more… The hint was all too obvious.

But that didn't mean that the idea had left his mind; far from it. Instead, it was all he could think about now. So near and yet so far. Friday, he told himself, if he could make it to Friday, then they'd be free to do whatever they liked. Nobody would bother to interfere after then.

Possible plans quickly formed in his head, but it wasn't only him that was involved in this beckoning relationship; there was his daughter to consider too. On the Thursday night, he breathed his first sigh of relief before consulting with Ellie. She was still fretting over Josh not asking her out, so she should be okay with it. Hopefully she would remain so if she ever found out that he had already kissed Donna.

"How do you feel about me… I mean us, inviting Josh and his mum over for a meal? We could call it a 'me surviving a sixth form college experience' celebration meal," he hesitantly proposed. "Hmm? That doesn't sound too pushy, does it? Since you are friends with Josh in school and… and… Donna is my ex-student now so it wouldn't be unprofessional of me to erm…"

Ellie's smile had slowly built as he babbled on, from delight that Josh might be coming to her home to realisation that her father thought more of Josh's mum than she had first considered. But she wondered how eager she should be about all this. Then again, she'd get to spend some time with Josh. Would she end up regretting encouraging her dad to date Josh's mum? "Why not, Dad! When are you going to ask them?"

"I'll go phone her now," he declared with glee. "I was thinking Saturday night. That doesn't seem too soon to have them over, does it? Yes, I'll go do that now."

All she could do was smile as he ran off.

.

The following night, after college and work had finished, his mood wasn't quite so good as it should have been. In fact it had plummeted. Where was she? It was almost getting on for six o'clock and she still hadn't turned up. John fervently gazed towards the main door of the college staffroom again in the hope that Donna would walk in through it at any second, but alas all he saw was her friend Carol.

"Hello, sweetheart," Carol crooned, aiming straight for him. "Finally, I've caught you on your own. You look a little lost. Shall I help you find your way?" she offered.

"Pardon?" he asked distractedly as someone who turned out to be the caretaker walked in through the door instead.

"I said," Carol reiterated as she sidled up to him and placed herself firmly between him and the table he stood by, "that I could help you with something. I'm sure we could come to some mutual arrangement."

His brain caught up then with what she was insinuating. "Yes, well erm… that's lovely of you to offer, but I've got everything covered, thanks." He then flashed her what he hoped was a confident smile; right before he lifted his wrist and scowled at his watch. "Where is she?" he grumbled.

"Who?" Carol asked, now deeply interested. "Got a woman hidden away somewhere?" she teased, since Donna had assured her there was no one in John's life.

"My girlfriend should have been here by now," he supplied. "She must be running late."

"Girlfriend? I didn't know...," Carol started to say and then stopped herself. It didn't do to look like a potential stalker after all. "The traffic can treacherous this time of night on a Friday," she tacked on.

"That must be it," he agreed. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go and see where she's got to."

"Right oh," Carol reluctantly answered, and mentally made a note to berate Donna for the lack of information at the first opportunity. Gulping down her drink, she turned to try and find someone else to talk to.

Using the opportunity to gain some privacy or at least some information, John pulled out his phone and rang Donna's number. It didn't take long for her to answer. "Why haven't you shown up for my drinks thing? Where are you?.. Home?!... What are you doing still at home? You've missed my leaving speech and everything. I was quite impressed with myself; even got a veiled reference to you in there…. Have you been crying?... What's going on?... He's done what?! Give me five minutes and I'll be there as quick as I can. Don't worry, we'll find him, no matter what. I promise."

Carol was still in his way, eyeing him expectantly, and part of him was very glad to leave her standing there. "I've got to go," he informed her, "so can you say goodbye to everyone for me?"

"What's the matter; she lost her cat?" Carol sarkily wondered.

"No, it's much more serious than losing an animal," he tightly replied as he picked up all his possessions. "Her son has gone missing."

"Missing?" Carol queried in his wake as he practically ran away. "No, it can't be," she remarked to herself as the identity of the mystery girlfriend occurred to her; and she was torn between sympathy and anger that the rumours were apparently true.

.

As soon as Wilf let John into the house he headed straight for Donna in the lounge and demanded some answers. "What exactly happened and what have you done so far"

She turned her tear-stained face to him. "He's still not come home yet. When I walked in he wasn't here; that's not like him. And he always has his phone with him but he hasn't answered my calls or my text messages. I didn't know what to do for the best, so I went out looking for Josh. I went to all his usual haunts and tried to contact Baz but got no answer. What do I do now?"

"Let me phone Ellie and see if she's heard anything." He immediately rang his daughter. "Hello Ellie. Have you by any chance seen Josh tonight? You saw him do what?! I'll come and get you. Hang on." He then informed Donna, "She said she saw him talking to Baz when a large car pulled up alongside him, and he climbed in."

"What?!" Donna shrieked as all sorts of scenarios filed through her mind.

"Do you have Baz's number?" John asked, trying to get her to think logically.

She shook her head. "Yes but he isn't answering either. But I do know where he lives."

"Come on," he stated decisively. "I'll take you round there and then we'll pick Ellie up from Shirley's."

"Hello. Is something the matter?" a very stunned Baz wondered when he opened his front door to see Josh's mum standing anxiously on the doorstep next to some bloke he hadn't seen before.

"Yes, there is," Donna tried to calmly explain. "Baz this is really important. Ellie said she saw Josh climb into a car when he was with you earlier. Can you tell me whose car it was?"

"He did," Baz supplied. "It was his dad's girlfriend's car; or at least she was being driven around in it. She stopped to invite him to go with her to their hotel. I thought he'd told you. His phone must have died after all because both our phones were low on battery."

"No, he hadn't told me. Thank you, Baz," Donna replied, feeling some relief flood through her.

In next to no time they were all back in John's car and they were heading toward the hotel were Peter and Ginger were staying. Mindful of any possible interference from the hotel staff, Donna phoned the hotel up to ask if they had seen a tall, spikey-haired teenage boy and to leave a message to say they were on their way to collect her son.

.

It had seemed like such a good idea to go with Ginger when she had found him walking home from school. But it had soon gone very downhill after that. First, his phone had died when he tried to warn his mum where he was; then he'd had no idea what his mum's phone number was so that he could ring her on the hotel phone, giving himself a mild panic; and then his dad had turned up looking like thunder.

Ginger had got Josh to sit on one of the sofas outside their hotel suite, next to two journalists from local newspapers, hoping to pleasantly surprise Peter. "Wait here and I will bring Peter out," she had promised in her best broken English.

But all Peter had done was mistake Josh for completely someone else.

"What the fuck is this?" he had demanded of his girlfriend when he'd finally opened the door and spotted Josh sitting there in his school uniform outside. "Since when did I give fucking interviews to fart arse school newspapers?!"

"Peter, it isn't…," Ginger tried to inform him, shaking her long beautiful black-hair, but he wasn't listening.

"Look, I don't give a shit who he is. Get him out of my sight; I have to get to Broadcasting House within the next fifteen minutes and don't have time to fuck about," he had loudly grumbled, and then slammed the suite door behind him as he disappeared towards the lift in order to enter the early evening traffic.

"Sorry," Ginger mouthed at Josh, "we won't be long."

And then she had tottered her petite form in Peter's wake; leaving Josh all alone in a strange building, not knowing what to do next and with no money to make his way home.

.

An hour and a half later, Josh was still sitting there, hoping that Ginger would hurry up and return; but the journalists had given up waiting. Ignoring Josh as an unqualified nobody, they had decided between them that their appointments with Peter Vincent were long overdue, and it was time to go home and start their weekend.

Suddenly the lift doors opened and out stepped the very people Josh had been patiently waiting for. His hopes grew until he saw that the foul mood his father had been in had deepened. Ginger tried to halt Peter rampaging through the hallway to his suite of rooms; but all he noticed was the fact that someone was still sitting there from a good hour or so earlier.

"What the fuck! Whatever you do, get that damned kid out of here!" Peter yelled. "Can't you do anything right?"

Josh paled as the violent tone of his father's words hit him, and he tried to slink down into his seat even more, wrapping the collar of his coat tightly around his head.

"But Peter, you need to speak to him…," Ginger tried to reason with him again, but he cut her explanation off.

"It's no good, I don't care who he is or how long he has waited to see me," he ranted.

The lift bell tinged to signify someone had stepped out.

"You idiot," Ginger sighed, but Peter wasn't finished.

He pointed a threatening finger in Josh's direction and shouted, "If he hasn't gone by the time I walk back out into this corridor in five minutes, I shall personally take him by the scruff of the neck and throw him out on his scrawny arse!"

"Oh you will, will you?" a female voice instantly accosted him from afar.

Peter's head immediately whipped round in recognition. "Donna?" It had been a long time, but he'd have known her anywhere. To say he was shocked to see his ex-girlfriend standing there, with a young girl by her side, would be an understatement. "What are you doing here? And why the fuck should you care about a…?" It was then that he properly looked at the teen desperately trying to hide within the hood of his coat. "Is that…?" Peter began to verbally wonder as he took one step closer to the boy and noted the tiny wince of fear it gained. "This can't be Josh, can it?"

"I tried to tell you," Ginger triumphantly pointed out. "But you no listen!"

"Shut up, you silly cow!" Peter snapped back at her, and then returned his attention to Donna and the pretty teenage girl who held tightly onto her hand as though she would be gobbled up at any second. "I didn't know you had another one. When did you get her?"

"She isn't mine, you dunce!" Donna mocked him. "When would I have got the chance to go out and find another man? Pft! Do be serious. I'm just borrowing her. She's Josh's girlfriend."

Peter looked impressed but Ellie desperately prodded Donna in the arm. "I'm not…," she started to deny.

"Alright. You're as good as; once you two get your act together," Donna amended. "It's all the same in the end."

"Nicely done, son," Peter proudly aimed towards Josh. "Give her one for me."

That did it! Donna momentarily released her hold on Ellie, stormed up to Peter and hit him hard; narrowly missing his face because he flinched out of the way, but getting him across the upper part of his left arm. "You git!" she raged. "Call yourself a father? You shouldn't be in charge of a goldfish, let alone a decent young man like our Josh."

"He doesn't mean it like that, Donna," Ginger defended Peter.

"Oh no?!" Donna continued to storm. "If it wasn't for you, Peter wouldn't even be seeing his son right now, because he doesn't give a rat's arse about him and never could."

"That's a little harsh," Peter griped as Ginger tried not to nod in agreement.

Glaring at him, Donna retorted, "Are you in pain? What a shame the truth hurts. Aww. Shall I call the manbulance for you? That ego of yours must be suffering a bruising by now."

"You bitch!" Peter spat back, no longer worrying about appearing nice and polite. "Take your bastard and fuck off out of my sight!"

Donna drew herself haughtily up to her full height and told him, "Consider it done, because you sticking around in our lives always was too much of a chore for you." She would have said more, but Ellie was trembling with fright by her side, and Josh wasn't faring much better as he stood up from his seat, taking in the scene before him. "Come on kids. We'll go and see if we can find a real man around here, one that can pull his head from out of his arse," she declared as she led them away.

"Up yours!" Peter yelled out after some seconds as the trio strode away.

She simply made a rude gesture at him and then took hold of Josh with her spare hand. There was no way she would let that man reduce her to tears; not in front of him.

They entered the lift and stood in silence for a moment once it began to move downwards. The dull lighting made them look like zombies in the wall mirrors.

"Did you er… text your dad, Ellie, and let him know exactly where we are?" Donna tried to ask as calmly as she could.

Ellie mutely nodded.

"John dropped us off at the hotel entrance before going to find a parking space," Donna informed Josh. "It was a bit like a scene in a film; all dramatic like."

"We screeched up to the doors," Ellie informed him, now able to enjoy it in hindsight, when they'd been almost beside themselves with worry at the time. "I'll text Dad again in a minute."

"He'll be frantic with worry about you," Josh stated in deep concern. "Sorry."

"What have you got to be sorry about?" Donna asked him. "Well, apart from being curious, obviously."

"And getting into a strange car," Ellie added, "making us all worried."

"You were worried about me?" Josh wondered, partly thrilled that she was.

"Since we care about you, it seemed perfectly natural," Donna stated.

His face fell, and his suppressed emotions hit him. He sobbed, "I'm so sorry, Mum. I meant to let you know but my phone died this afternoon."

In answer, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. Thank god he was safe and hadn't been abducted. Everything else was bearable in light of that. The floor indicator then tinged as the doors opened.

"Hang on you two," she ordered them, stepping forward. "Ellie, I want you to stay right here and give Josh a hug for me; I've got something to sort out first before we can go home."

She manoeuvred the two teenagers out of the lift and onto a large comfortable sofa. Leaving the pair of them holding an awkward arm around each other in the hotel lobby, Donna stepped back into the lift and pressed the button that would take her back to the top floor and her ex.


	8. Chapter 8

**WARNING:** contains **swearing**  
**A/N:** sorry about the swearing but that's the effect Peter has.

* * *

**Part 8**

.

Ellie had just finished texting a message to her father and Josh was enjoying the freedom to keep his arm hung around her shoulders; even though Donna had managed to bring it about. Little did he know that Ellie was far from eager to push his arm away from her once she had finished with her phone and put it away into her coat pocket. In fact, she rather liked the idea of that arm sliding downwards to encompass her body for a lot longer.

"This is a bit awkward," Josh admitted as he shyly glanced at Ellie sitting within his loose embrace. "Sorry Mum forced you into this."

"That's alright," Ellie acknowledged. "It's not so bad."

"Really?!" It was only then that he allowed himself to look into her eyes. Her beautiful, soulful eyes that had laid claim on his heart long ago. "Since we're going to be here a while as we wait for Mum get back from giving Dad a right bollocking… I thought I'd better say sorry."

"Is she really going to have a go at him?" Ellie wondered.

"Oh yes!" In fact Josh had never been so sure of anything in his life. "She's been waiting for the chance to get him for years."

"It erm… it must be awkward for her," Ellie considered. "I suppose I didn't help things by being here."

Josh immediately gave her a comforting squeeze. "That's not true, honest it isn't. Mum would never have brought you if she thought you were getting in the way. Instead, I suspect she did this for me." He then huskily lowered his voice as he realised this was his moment to grab the opportunity he had been waiting for. "She brought you here because she knew I would like it."

"Why's that?" Ellie heard herself ask. Did this mean that her dream of him liking her back was finally coming true? Could this be really happening?

"Because…." Josh drew in a breath. 'Just say it' his feelings ordered him. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime. Would you?"

Her heart did a merry dance in her chest. "Yes," she blurted out. "I'd love that."

"Good," he lamely answered, but his eyes proclaimed his joy in that moment. He had been able to ask his question, and she had said yes! His day was suddenly turning out to be fantastic. "When I get a job I'll be able to take you somewhere nice. Promise."

"As long as I can spend time with you," she sincerely told him, "then I'll be happy."

Enveloped in their own little bubble of glee, they continued to clasp each until John arrived.

.

There was only a second as Donna travelled upwards that she doubted her motives for returning to Peter's suite of rooms, but she had waited too long to find out why he had left her pregnant and all on her own. I mean, she had theorised plenty of times on the why, but it was always better to hear it from the horse's mouth; especially if her mother wasn't there to interfere.

He'd physically changed over the years, going from the scrawny youth who had seduced her; and to be fair, she had seduced him in return. Quite often, as it happened. It had been quite a passionate relationship as they discovered sex together. Part of its appeal had been Sylvia's reaction to Donna's shy male best friend becoming her boyfriend and centre of her universe. The rebelliousness within Donna had loved her mother's disapproval! Unfortunately it had made telling her the news of the pregnancy a lot worse than it could have been.

But anyway… seeing Peter in the flesh had done unwanted things to her. She had wanted to loathe and detest him on sight. The thought of ripping his eyes out with her bare hands had long entertained her late night revenge-fests. Instead she had been flooded with all the old emotions he provoked in her; annoyingly so. He mustn't be allowed to do this to her. After all, he was a major git of the first order. His uncaring actions had destroyed the love she had once had in her heart for him and he did not deserve the love Josh felt for him. Oh, she knew Josh had kindled a secret longing for his father; dreaming of the day he would swoop in and save them from poverty. It wasn't within her to quash his dream; because she had once dreamed it too. Silly; but true.

None of that mattered now. Peter had rejected his son without a decent explanation; and that was unforgivable. Taking in a few deep breaths to centre herself and draw in courage, she raised her hand to announce her appearance.

It was Peter who answered the suite door to her fervent knocking. "What now?" he fumed.

"I want a word with you, mister!" He was totally shocked when she placed a finger on the centre of his chest and prodded him with force back into his rooms. "I don't know how you've got the cheek to use that tone with me. You think I don't know what your game is," she accused him as she crossed the threshold. "I'm supposed to run off and accept that pathetic speech you threw at Josh, and it really was pathetic, I assure you. It was also total bollocks because you are only too aware of what it's like to grow up without a father."

"That's what I told him," Ginger dramatically supplied from where she leant against the doorframe when Peter didn't immediately retort but stood there stunned. "He needs his son."

"Go away you nosey cow!" Peter spat at her. "Make some tea, watch telly, or something."

"I only said because it's true." Shrugging, Ginger slowly turned around and sauntered out of the room, leaving Peter now glaring at Donna.

So many emotions were warring inside him. "That was low, really low," he quietly complained. "You of all people…"

"Pft! What did you expect? I know how you think," she countered. "And I was there from almost the beginning, remember; that first day at Chiswick Grammar. You can't hide all that stuff from me."

They both thought of that lonely little boy who eyed yet another brand new school with such horror as he waited for the bullies to target him, just like they always did. The school may have wiped away a lot of problems by having a uniform but the bullies still managed to spot the poor kids in care.

A brief panicked expression crossed his features. "It can't get out; none of it," he quietly threatened.

"Give over!" she chided him, and hit him hard on the arm. "What do you take me for? And no, I haven't told anyone about you and me; or your nightmares, before you ask."

Suitably relieved, he allowed himself a small smile. The effect it had on his face was illuminating. "They still happen, you know, and believe it or not but there are times I miss you. You've turned into a good looking woman." For once he wasn't lying; to her or himself. It had surprised him how much he still rather fancied her despite his usual tastes being younger women. "Remember that time when you lied about staying with Nerys and we stayed in my bed, shagging each other all weekend? Boy, we were hot!"

"How could I forget?" Donna queried, using more than a slight tone of exasperation. For her the memory of that bonkfest had rather lost its appeal. "That weekend had far reaching consequences."

"Consequences? What consequences?" he asked, clearly puzzled. He thought they'd gotten away with it.

In exasperation, she huffed, "You'll find his name is Josh."

"OH!" he gasped in realisation. "Of course. I always was rubbish at remembering dates."

"I know," she agreed. "I also know why you so fervently refuse to remember them, so don't pretend it doesn't have anything to do with your parents' death," she added really quietly in case they were being overheard.

Peter acknowledged that fact. "About earlier and all that yelling in front of Josh, I need to say sorry to him for not recognising him sitting there waiting for me. Ginger arranged it as a nice surprise for me, and I fucked it up."

"You certainly did, and you can apologise to him later when you phone him," Donna strongly hinted. "He's not used to seeing someone act so angry; you really frightened him."

"I thought he said you live with your mum?" he retorted, remembering Sylvia's ire all too well.

"I do, now, but that's only recently," she answered honestly. "I've done my best to shield him from all that."

He snorted his approval. "Your mother is an absolute bitch! I hate her. When I last came round she felt it necessary to tell me what an awful father and husband I'd be, and to never darken her door again."

What! "Hang on… I've got to get my head around this. When did she tell you all that?"

"The day I came round after you told me you was pregnant," he supplied. "Didn't she tell you? To think I was going to propose and everything."

Donna felt suddenly sick; really sick. Why hadn't her mother ever mentioned this? Everything could have been very different. "Is that why you left?" she softly asked.

"Partly," he cagily admitted. "Partly other stuff. I certainly wasn't going to stick around your mother, even if we had to elope."

"I bet you are really glad you dodged that bullet," she weakly joked as she leant against the nearest seat for support. "Married with a kid just isn't your style."

"I've made a right balls up of being unmarried with a kid," he sighed, running his hand through his hair, "whereas you; you've been amazing, from what I hear."

"Careful, Peter. That is dangerously close to a compliment; and you've done nothing but verbally sling mud at me during the few times we've spoken," she growled.

"Don't remind me," he grouched. "Fucking lawyers trying to squeeze every last cent out of me in order to pay off some debt..."

"That 'debt' is your son," she sternly reminded him, "and that money helped me keep my head above water when I was bringing him up, on my own."

"What, no sap was around to help you?" he murmured in disbelief. "You've lost your touch."

She instantly saw red. "Unlike you, I do not jump into bed with the first passing whiff of interest; and nor do I sponge off anyone." She threw her hands up in defeat. "Why am I even talking to you? You obviously don't care about me anymore, and you certainly don't give a toss about Josh. Well, you got your wish and you don't have to pay for his upkeep for much longer seeing as he is determined to get a job at the first opportunity."

"What about university? His dream to be… what was it again?" he wondered vaguely. He was sure Ginger had told him at some point. She could never shut about Josh after she had spoken to him on Skype. Lord knew why. It was all 'Josh said this' and 'Josh wants that'. To be honest, he always zoned her out when she droned on and on about something. It was normally easier that way.

"Like you care!" Donna fumed at him. "How many times do I have to state this; I do not have the money to feed and clothe him, let alone send him to university. The amount you send only goes so far. It's the reason I'm trying to gain some qualifications, and he will look for a job that will pay for him to further himself."

That didn't sound quite right to him. "Shouldn't he get all that for free?"

"Not when he has a father who has a successful career on the telly, he won't, you dumbo! They'll think I'm having a laugh if he applies for a grant. It'd be different if we were divorced," she furiously explained, "but I haven't even got the luxury of using that one. I was dumped, and you ran off."

Guilt brought anger raging back. "So you only care about how much money you can get out of me?!" he blazed. "Fuck off!"

This time the slap landed where she wanted it to; right on the side of his face. Blind with fury, he grabbed hold of her wrists.

"Trust you to make this all about you!" she complained loudly. "I have a son. A wonderful, caring and brilliant son I would do anything for. One day you might realise that you could have had him too."

"You don't get to hit me anymore. As for wanting your son," he retaliated, suddenly letting go of her, "It'll be a cold day in hell when I do. So you can keep him."

Pursing her lips in anger, she left her parting shot. "When I've earned enough money, and I will, I'm going to sue the backside off you!"

"Just try it, you evil cow!" he shouted at her departing back, and then went to pour himself out a large glass of whiskey.

"Well? Did you make friends with her?" Ginger immediately asked when she saw him a few seconds later.

"Of course I didn't," he huffed, taking a sip. "Living with her mother has turned her into a right bitch."

Glaring at him in exasperation, Ginger ran out of the suite. "Donna!" she called, stopping Donna before the lift could arrive. "I wanted to say sorry about him." She waved vaguely towards where Peter was at that moment.

"It's not your fault," Donna acknowledged, sighing in defeat. "Well, not that bit, anyway. He always did blow hot and cold like that with his temper. I should have expected it."

"About earlier… Sorry for scaring you about Josh. It got hectic. Can I ask before you go," Ginger began to request, edging nearer, "how did Peter's parents die? He won't tell me."

"Hasn't he told you?" Donna was shocked that Peter hadn't shared this precious piece of information considering the relationship they had. "I really think Peter should tell you himself when he's ready. I don't feel comfortable saying anything out here," she replied as pleasantly as she could. The lift arrived then. "Look, I've got to go. My son is waiting downstairs for me, and no doubt Peter will need you to do something or other."

"I will try to make Peter understand," Ginger readily promised as Donna stepped into the lift. "He should see his son."

Donna merely nodded as the lift doors closed, and she was transported downwards.

Ginger marched back into the suite, stormed up to Peter and threatened him with physical damage by balling her fist in his direction. "Go and see your son!" she ordered him. "This is your last chance, and he still down in the lobby. Do it or I never speak to you again!"

"And how is that a threat? I'd pay money for you to stop speaking to me." So Ginger prodded him. "Who put you in charge?" he grumbled. "Fucking hell! Alright, I'll go, if it'll shut you up. Just give me a moment."

.

It had taken a while to find somewhere to park and then get back to the hotel. Reminding himself to get a taxi cab if he ever had to do this again, John ran. As he reached the hotel main doors he read a text message from Ellie saying that they were sitting safely in the hotel lobby. Seconds later he saw her with Josh, and strode towards them.

"Thank God you're alright," he told Josh with some relief, laying a hand on his shoulder to confirm it was him. "Where's your mother?" he added, turning his head to seek her out.

"She went back up to have a go at Dad," Josh apologetically supplied.

John frowned. "Why?"

"Because he said some mean and nasty things about Josh and Donna," Ellie answered when Josh silently sat there, unable to voice his feelings.

Sitting himself down near them, John questioned, "What sort of things?"

"Oh erm…" Josh felt so ashamed of the encounter and really didn't want to reveal much yet. "He swore."

"He called Josh a…" Ellie then mouthed the insult. "And Donna a…"

"Did he?" John growled in annoyance; but he didn't want to upset Josh any more than was necessary. "I bet your mother is making light work of sorting him out," he joked to lighten the mood.

Fortunately it worked, and Josh's expression eased. "Yeah," he happily agreed. "I'm just glad that she didn't bring Nan's axe."

"She's got an axe?!" John exclaimed. "Remind to stay well away from her in future."

Both teens nodded back at him.

.

In the lift, Donna's angry tears began to fall, and she hastily wiped them away. No one should see her like this; especially if it got back to Peter. The smug, arrogant prick! Thank God she hadn't ended up married to him after all.

She was still sniffling when she reappeared in the hotel lobby, still feeling dejected. But John was there, waiting with their children. The sight of him immediately lifted her spirits, and then he endeared himself to her even further by jumping up from his seat to run and console her.

"What happened? Did he touch you? What did he say?" John asked as they met, and his anger grew when he saw the evidence of tears on her face. "I'll go and thump him one!"

Donna immediately stopped him turning to go and storm off, holding onto his upper arms with force. "No, please John, please; there's no need to do that. He was merely his usual loathsome self, but thank you for offering. He is such an arse! Please excuse my French," Donna added the last bit in Ellie's direction, "but he makes my blood boil. He has the emotional maturity of a slug, just sliming his way through life. I hate him." And at that she felt the tears on her face again, and wanted to die for appearing so weak in front of John.

"It's alright," he insisted as he pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Shhh, shh shhh!" he crooned into her hair, and kissed her temple. "Forget about him. We'll sort this all out later, but for now I need to get you home."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** sorry about the delay again but I've not been feeling well.

* * *

**Part 9**

.

It shouldn't have taken them too long to walk the distance to where John had parked his car, but unfortunately the route took them right by some rather enticing shops. They were stood waiting for Donna and Ellie to stop pressing their noses up against a shop window that contained various designer items. And Josh took the opportunity to gaze at a guitar he coveted in a shop window further along while John stayed protectively near Ellie as she pointed out several accessories to an enthusiastic Donna. All in a day's work to a dad, Josh supposed; until a particularly enticing Les Paul caught his attention.

"Excuse me, mate, but your dad has dropped something," was suddenly said in Josh's direction.

"Right there," another voice added. "Looks like a wallet; your dad'll need it."

He swung his head round to see two men pointing at something on the ground. Dipping down to pick whatever it was up from the pavement, he thanked the men, who eagerly walked on into the night.

Josh then hurried to John's side and handed over the object. "You dropped your credit card holder," he declared and then awkwardly shuffled his feet before he gave John an apologetic smile. "Sorry for making you race around after me tonight, John. And thanks for bringing Mum up here to get me."

John gave him a smile, hoping the reflected lights from the window display didn't make him look too manic. "You're welcome."

"No, you don't get it!" Josh insisted, still awkwardly dancing about. "Mum's boyfriends have never tried to be nice to me when she's not around. You're different."

"I should hope I am," John proclaimed proudly. "The fact that I like you might have something to do with it."

Josh blushed and dipped his head away. "I wish Mum had met you ages ago," he murmured just loud enough for John to hear.

"Me too," John softly enthused; and then reached out to fondly ruffled Josh's hair. "You're just after my car really, aren't you, if I'm still around this time next year."

A wide grin of delight broke out across Josh's face. "Well, if you insist on letting me drive it once I pass my test, who am I to stop you?" he teased.

"Don't push it," John pretended to warn him. "I can change my mind, you know."

"Nope," Josh joyfully declared, "once you like me there's no going back. You're doomed."

Pulling him playfully towards him and into a loose hug, John commented, "It would seem I am."

Donna turned to see them messing about, and asked, "What are you two playing at over there?"

"Dad just promised me his car when I pass my driving test next year," Josh answered, and was delighted when they all laughed.

"Keep thinking that, son," John joked in return, and pushed Josh ahead of him. "One step at a time, eh."

Unbeknown to them, at the end of the row of shops, a figure wearing a dark grey hoodie to hide his features stepped into the light in order to observe the playfulness more closely. It wasn't his usual mode of dress but he couldn't risk being seen; not when nobody was aware of his connection to the touching scene he had just witnessed. It was a very grim Peter who had watched them; his face set in stone. This was not what he had expected when he had decided to follow his son and try to mend fences. Not at all.

Setting his face into a grimace, he changed direction and headed back towards the back entrance to the hotel.

.

The phone in Donna's pocket went off and she scrambled to answer it. "Hello. Yes Mum. He's safe and sound with me. We're still with John and Ellie, on our way to the car right now. Have you eaten yet? Nor have we. I'll bring us in something, shall I? You want a saveloy? Okay. See you in a mo'. Bye!"

"Was she very angry with me?" Josh apprehensively asked.

"Don't worry I'll be there to save you," John promised; and Ellie took his hand to offer support.

.

"Where is he?" Sylvia cried as they stepped through the front door.

"Right behind me," Donna answered as she struggled in with the large bag of take away, and made her way towards the kitchen.

Once there, Wilf hovered anxiously near her. "Is he alright, his mini lordship?" he asked, nodding his head towards where Josh would be and they could hear voices in the hallway.

"Yeah," she quietly answered, and started to dish out portions on the plates already laid out in readiness on the table. "He had a bit of a scare when his dad didn't recognise him and went off on one, but otherwise he's fine. And he finally asked Ellie out."

"That's good," Wilf enthused. "I assume she said yes."

Donna nodded as the girl herself appeared through the kitchen door, followed closely by her father. They generally exchanged greetings.

"Hello," Ellie shyly greeted Wilf.

"Josh, come and do the introductions!" Donna called out to him.

There was a strangled reply. "I can't! Nan won't let go of me."

"I should think so too," Sylvia voiced as she near dragged him in, not relinquishing her hold on him. "It's not every day your grandson gets kidnapped and is returned safely. I nearly had a heart attack! Especially after all that business when Donna was small."

"Here we go again," Donna muttered in Ellie's direction. "She always brings this up at the drop of a hat."

"Of course I do," Sylvia retorted defensively. "Did she tell you, John, how she ran away when she was six because she wanted a holiday? Strathclyde they found her! I've never got over it. And now for dear Josh to be taken from us, it just doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened to him."

"Never mind, eh," Donna said to defuse the situation. "He was merely with his dad and future stepmother, so no harm done."

Sylvia scowled as she bit down on the words she wanted to say, and gave Josh another squeeze.

"What about my turn?" Wilf demanded, itching to take the lad from her embrace. "Or don't great-granddads get a look in these days?"

Reluctantly, Sylvia let him go, and Josh melted into Wilf's arms.

"I'm okay, Gramps," Josh appeased him.

"And thank the Lord for it," Wilf wetly replied. "Come on then, you must be starving." He sat Josh down on one of the dining chairs and gestured to Ellie to sit next to him. "Sit yourself down, young lady. We need to celebrate this, getting our Josh back."

"Anyone would think they like you," John quietly commented to Josh when he looked embarrassed at the fuss. "I see what you mean now."

Enjoying the joke, Josh grinned happily at him. "I did warn you."

"What did you warn him about? Are you taking the mickey out of me?" Sylvia queried as she placed full plates in front of them all.

"No Nan," Josh informed her. "John has just discovered the power of the Noble attraction."

If she could have visibly preened herself with pride she would have done. "Yes… Well," she flailed.

"You are always very welcome here," Wilf stated, lifting up his freshly made cup of tea as other filled cups were also placed on the table for everyone. "Cheers!"

All of them joined in.

.

John had arrived promptly at Sylvia's house to pick up Ellie, Donna and Josh in order to take them back to his home the following day. It had been quite a pleasant Saturday so far; the rain had kept off, Donna had got all her laundry done for the coming week, and Josh had escaped Sylvia quizzing him to within an inch of his life by going to meet Ellie and walking around Westfield shopping mall all afternoon.

The two teens chatted excitedly about all the things and people they had seen, as they travelled along, so they were pulling onto the driveway outside John's house in next to no time. Donna was suitably enthralled; it must have cost him quite a few bob, judging by the size of the place. Then again, he was on a lecturer's wages so he was better paid than the teachers she knew.

"Is it what you expected?" John cautiously asked her as she undid her seat belt.

"Well I wasn't expecting Downton Abbey," she jokingly admitted, "but it looks very nice; really nice. Is it three or four bedroomed?"

"Four," he proudly stated, and grinned even more when she seemed suitably impressed by that.

"Dad, can I show Josh my latest video game?" Ellie asked him almost as soon as they had crossed over the threshold. "I promised him we could try out the zombie version."

Casting a glance towards Donna, he reluctantly agreed. "Alright, but keep your bedroom door open; and I'll be up to check on you both once dinner is in the oven."

"Yes Dad," Ellie sighed in resignation, and grabbed hold of Josh's sleeve in order to steer him upstairs.

"Can I help you in the kitchen?" Donna offered. She then strolled into the room he indicated. "Wow! Your home is lovely," she complimented, taking in the modern, functional layout. "And so clean too."

"Thank you." He smiled with delight. "I have Annie come in three times a week to clean the place. Anyway, come through to the kitchen. I'll put dinner on and then get us a drink. What do you fancy?"

"What are you offering?" She followed him into the kitchen and amused herself by watching him faff about for a minute or two.

"Music!" he declared as he pulled out a bottle of wine from the fridge and looked for a corkscrew. "We need some background music."

With that, he switched on a radio. Immediately some Coldplay filtered out into the room.

"Thank gawd!" Donna muttered. "For a horrible moment I thought it was Marvin Gaye. You know, a bit of 'Let's get it on…'" She then swayed her hips in time to the tune.

"That can be arranged," he answered, eyeing her like a dog does its dinner. The sway of her hips had always had an unsettling effect on him; but now he was free to examine the feeling. "Your wine, madam," he sighed as he handed her a glass, and then sipped at his own. To his delight she was still moving to the music, mesmerising him. Was it any wonder that he reached out to pull her loosely into his embrace? "What do you think of it?"

"The wine?" she sought to confirm, and took another sip from her glass. "It's nice."

"Is that your word of the day?" he teased, resting his forehead on hers. "I can see that I'll have to buy you a thesaurus for your birthday."

"Is that bigger or smaller than a velociraptor?" she joked, and enjoyed the belly laugh it gained. What else was she supposed to do when he was tempting her so? All she wanted to do was claim his lips.

"Do you know what I've always fancied doing?" he asked, setting their glasses down decisively on the kitchen worktop behind them.

"Are we on to bucket lists already?" she wondered. "Because there are loads of things you probably want to do."

"This'll sound stupid but… I want to dance with you," he confessed in a near whisper.

"Dancing of some sort was guessable." She let him guide their swaying movement by placing his right hand on her waist. "Are you sure we can do this now?" she lightly fretted.

"Of course we can. We can do anything," he tried to confidently reply.

At that moment Josh sauntered in and screwed his face up in disgust at the sight of them. "Do you two have to? And in the middle of the kitchen of all places."

John sighed in embarrassed resignation as Donna snapped, "Mind your own business. Don't you have a whole gaggle of zombies to shoot in a mall somewhere?"

"I do," Josh confirmed, "but I was hungry, so I came to see what's for dinner. What have we got and when will it be ready?"

"Well, normally it'd be iffits," she answered.

"Iffits?" John asked, clearly puzzled by the title as Josh giggled at him.

"Iffits in the cupboard then we're having it," she explained. "I suppose we'd better feed these two as soon as possible before they clear faint away from hunger." She turned to Josh to ask, "Where did Ellie get to?"

"Dealing with a tricky infestation of zombie ducks," he supplied as he cast his gaze around the kitchen with interest before peering into the oven. "Is that lasagne?" he asked in sheer delight. "Is it one of yours, Mum?"

"No, it's one I bought from Waitrose. Sorry," John apologised. "Perhaps I'll get to taste your version one day, Donna."

"You should. It's terrific," Josh enthused. "What are we having to go with it? Can I try some wine?"

John answered his questions and then let him help them finish preparing the meal. It was obviously something the lad was used to doing; so in next to no time, they were dishing up a tasty meal to eat together.

.

"Look what I found," Ellie quietly but proudly declared as she fumbled through her sock drawer, eventually pulling out a small item. "This!"

On the palm of her hand sat a condom packet. "Where did you get that?" Josh asked, shocked to see such a thing in her possession.

She lowered her voice even further. "I found it in my dad's bedroom. He secretly bought a brand new box when he went shopping earlier, and he thought I hadn't noticed, or that he had opened the cellophane wrapping in order to pretend to your mum that he hadn't bought them specially." She then giggled in disgust. "So I nicked one since he'd never own up to knowing it was missing."

"That's a bit mean," Josh commented, not entirely sure where this conversation was heading; only knowing what he'd like to happen next. Something that John would no doubt kill him for if he found out. But the fact that John had bought supplies brought up more disgust than fear. "And I don't want to even think about your dad and my mum doing..._it._ So what are you going to do with that condom now that you've got it in your room?"

"I don't know. I hadn't thought that far," she half confessed, because something had occurred to her and it intimately involved Josh himself, but she would never own up to that one. "What do you suggest?" She gave him her best innocent look.

"Erm." He gulped nervously. "Hide it until it's needed, I suppose."

She leaned closer to whisper, "I also found his secret stash of porn."

"What?!" He did not need to know that and he _really_ felt awkward about this now. How would he ever be able to look John in the face again? "A-a-a man and his porn is a very private thing," he stammered.

"Have you got your own collection, Josh?" she teased, loving the beetroot colour he had gone.

"No," he denied but his voice cracked unconvincingly on the word. It didn't help that he suspected that his mum knew all about the magazine Baz had given him but was keeping schtum. "I don't need it."

"Liar!" Ellie accused him. "That's all boys think about."

"Not exclusively," he stated. "Do you ever think of sex?"

"Of course," she defiantly replied. "Girls are allowed to."

He nodded his agreement as she edged closer still. It was time for action instead of words, but he had to clarify one thing first. "Did you tell your dad that you said you'd go out with me?"

"Sort of," she admitted, remembering how she had squealed in the car on the way home the night before. "He didn't seem annoyed which surprised me."

She was leaning over Josh now and he knew he wouldn't be able to resist kissing her for much longer. The thought of John storming in and physically threatening him with bodily harm had been the deciding factor so far. But her lips were so close now and he could hardly think of anything else. "Good," he faintly answered, and eased forward.

Her eyes fluttered shut and they met in one gloriously fumbled moment, one that was soon replaced with a searing kiss that took her breath away. Then he guided her backwards to lie on the bed, whilst keeping a firm hold of her lips with his mouth, deliciously covering her body with his, the weight of him causing unknown pleasure. They hardly came up for air after that.


	10. Chapter 10

**WARNING: **contains some very adult themes. Then again, you read the previous chapter okay so hopefully it won't be a problem. **  
A/N:** sorry for the long delay in updating but my health has been faulty lately.

* * *

**Part 10**

.

Meanwhile, Donna and John were curled up on the settee pretending to watch the telly while trading their own share of tender touches, caresses, and numerous kisses.

After a few minutes the silence from his daughter was rather unnerving for John. "I wonder what are they doing up there? They're awfully quiet."

"Doing what all teenagers do," Donna replied. "I thought you'd have a problem with that."

"So did I," he freely acknowledged. "But it means I can do this with you."

It was with tender care that he kissed her; enjoying the feel of her soft hands underneath his shirt. After they had several more short kisses, he broke away to reluctantly admit, "It's no good, I've got to find out."

Donna also readjusted her clothing and agreed, "I'll come with you." Well, if anything had happened, Josh would need her to defend him against John's ire.

It took them longer than expected to quietly creep up the stairs, but when John opened Ellie's previously ajar bedroom door wide without knocking, he was truly surprised to see them loosely holding each other on the bed, sound asleep. Obviously the small amount of wine they'd been allowed with their dinner had been the cause of their early slumber since teenagers are notoriously night owls.

"Out for the count," John whispered.

"Who'd have thought," Donna replied equally quietly as relief that the pair of them were fully clothed raced through her; for more than one reason. If she hadn't once emphasised to Josh how stupid it was for teenagers to follow their sexual feelings like she had, she must have done so a thousand times. He had certainly seen and been the living proof of such actions.

Her thoughts were interrupted by John leering at her; then with a mimed gesture, he beckoned Donna into his bedroom, turned the lock, and launched himself at her.

She responded with hushed glee. That is, she did, right up until she saw the décor of his bedroom, and the sight brought her up short. Everywhere she looked were small pink and gold roses, frills and sweeping sashes. Even the bed looked as though a flower shop had exploded all over it. On the wall was a large stylised print of a woman holding a baby that was obviously Ellie and her mother, and several small framed photos were dotted about. It shrieked his late wife's influence, to the point where it was virtually a shrine.

"What? What's wrong?" John asked when she went still within his arms.

Donna pushed herself away from him and deliberately pointed to some of the furnishings. "It's all a bit chintzy, ain't it," she commented. "Not exactly what you'd expect in a man's bedroom. In fact, I'd have said you haven't altered anything beyond cleaning and changing the sheets since you lost your wife."

His face fell. "I haven't," he admitted. "There didn't seem any reason to."

That made the decision for her. "I can't do this; sorry. I think me and Josh ought to go home."

"What?! Why?" he cried out, feeling hurt far more than he was willing to acknowledge.

Stepping forward to place her hands on to his upper arms in comfort, she tenderly said, "You obviously need to move on quite a bit more before I can even consider staying in here with you; let alone doing anything else. This is your wife's room and I don't want to trample on her memory."

"You wouldn't be," he protested as various emotions warred within him. "Yes, she chose all this but it's me standing here asking you to stay with me. And Josh is too tired to take him out in the cold."

But to his dismay she shook her head at him. "Me, stay? Not in here I won't. Look, Josh won't be in any hurry to face going to Mum's yet, so perhaps we ought to move him into your spare bedroom if there's a bed in there; but I think I should go back to face the music."

"It's got a double bed in there, but… You're still coming to dinner tomorrow with us, aren't you?" he sought to confirm.

"Try keeping me away," she replied agreeably. And then the worse thing she could imagine happened.

"Right! That's decided it," he firmly stated, and strode determinedly into Ellie's bedroom.

Immediately cold fear gripped Donna's stomach, clenching it tightly as John's expression turned to stone. It felt as though the very breath had been knocked out of her body as panic took over. Oh no! No no no! This couldn't be happening; not after everything they'd been through lately! Had she got him all wrong and he would turn violent on them? What was wrong with her; had she not learnt her lesson about choosing such a bloke?

To Donna's absolute horror he bent down and picked up Josh. "What are you doing with my son?" she hissed in protective anger. "Put him down!"

"No," John answered, and went to push passed her with a dazed Josh in his arms. "Out the way," he ordered.

"No! I won't let you do this," Donna cried, running to brace herself between the wall and bannister, to stand in front of the top of the stairs in order to stop him taking Josh in that direction. "Listen to me, _please_; I beg you!"

But to her surprise, John didn't even attempt to head down the stairs but instead aimed straight for his bedroom, where he tenderly placed Josh on his bed. Josh stirred and gazed at John with wild, frightened eyes.

"What?!" Josh whimpered as he fought to gain wakefulness.

"Shush shhh. It's okay, Josh. It's only me, moving you somewhere you can sleep with more room to move about," John soothed him, adding in a gentle caress that he covered by pushing the hair out of Josh's eyes. He then bustled about adjusting the pillows and the covers for the boy. Fortunately it worked, and the lad returned to his previous slumbers. "There you go, Josh," John murmured as he took the lad's shoes off and finished tucking the bedclothes around him. "Have a nice sleep here, in comfort."

"I thought…," Donna brokenly started to confess.

He then stood and turned to where Donna was framed in the doorway still looking totally stunned, and slowly approached her trembling form. "What did you think, love?" he tenderly asked, worried about her still agitated state. "I was only moving him."

Tears sprung into her eyes as she followed John out onto the landing and he gently closed the door behind them. "I thought you were going to chuck him out or hit him," she murmured as her voice wavered with emotion.

"Did you really think I would harm or throw a sleeping child out of my house?" he sadly wondered. "Why on earth would I do that? No, since my room is out of bounds for you, I thought it best to put Josh in there to sleep." Realisation then struck. "Oh Donna! Who hurt him in the past?" he sighed, lifting his hand to caress her cheek with his fingertips.

"You wouldn't be the first," she admitted in a low voice, averting her eyes. "It doesn't matter now."

"It does!" he insisted, as anger on her behalf filled him. Softly tipping her face so that she would look him in the eye, he asserted, "Only a monster would do that sort of thing. Josh hinted as much to me last night but I'm only beginning to understand how rough a time you've both had. I would never do that to you or him; I'd rather die first."

It was relief that made her splutter, "I might hold you to that, Mathsman."

"I have a feeling you will." He placed a brief tender kiss upon her lips before guiding her into his spare bedroom, not speaking until he was sure they couldn't be heard. "If my bedroom isn't right yet then we'll come in here," he sincerely declared, cradling her face within his hands. "You may not think I'm ready, but I beg to differ. Meeting you has changed my life. I want to learn all about you, offer myself to whatever you want, and now I'm free to explore that. Do you feel like doing some exploring with me?"

"Yeah," she sobbed and drew his head towards her so that she could kiss him thoroughly.

.

Ellie gradually woke from her slumbers cocooned in a warmth that immediately made her think of Josh. Smiling as she did so, she reached out to hold his hand, and met cold sheets. She jumped awake in surprise, desperately searching for him, only to see instead her father standing by the side of her bed, fondly watching her. "Dad! What's going on? Why are you in here? I wasn't doing anything."

"I know," he whispered so as not to wake anyone else. "You were asleep on your covers so I came in to see if you were okay."

"I'm alright," she insisted, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. "Where's Josh?"

"Asleep in the other room."

There was something fishy about this, Ellie decided. "Should you be walking about in just a towel seeing as we've got guests staying over?"

"This?" He cast his gaze down onto the small towel that covered the lower half of his body. "It's fine."

"Are you sure?" she reasoned, clearly not convinced. "Why are you walking about like that anyway? Have you lost your pyjamas?"

"Something like… I spilt something on myself so I had to have a shower," he explained, now fed up of this topic.

"Is that Donna I can hear in the bathroom?" she asked suspiciously. There was a distinct sound of water being used.

"Yes. She got some on her too," he supplied. "Now go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Huffing, she laid back down on her bed, half wondering if she ought to completely change out of her clothes or not. "Dad," she said as he turned to go, "I thought I'd hate it if you started going out with someone, but I quite like it."

"Me too," he happily replied from her doorway. "Night, darling." Once he had blown her a kiss and shut the door, he disappeared.

Having decided not to move, Ellie nestled down, and drifted off to sleep as her mind thought happy thoughts about being Josh's girlfriend.

.

Josh entered the kitchen the following morning and was immediately puzzled to see John sitting there on his own. "Where's Mum?"

His reply was preceded by a wave to join him at the table. "She's gone to get some fresh supplies. Help yourself to some cereal, there's fresh coffee and I'll do us some toast in a mo'."

Bustling about, a large box of cornflakes, a spoon and a bowl were grabbed before a pressing question could be considered. "John," Josh begun to ask in all seriousness as he sat himself down opposite, "Can I ask you something personal? It's erm…. Something about sex."

John instantly spluttered into his morning coffee. "What!" he demanded as he wiped off coffee residue from his shirt.

"We haven't done anything, honest we haven't," Josh quickly assured him. "Ellie's only just agreed to go out with me, for goodness sake."

"You're a raging hormonal teenage boy," John drily commented. "If you think I don't know that you desperately want to sleep with my daughter then you've got it wrong."

"Well, we _did_ technically sleep together, but not sleep-sleep," Josh argued playfully.

John merely feigned clumping him around the ear. "Anyway, why are you asking me instead of someone else?"

"Just look at my choices," Josh reasoned. "I've got Baz, who knows even less then I do, Dad who has loads of experience but hardly knows who I am, let alone cares enough to talk to me, and then there's Gramps. I mean, would you ask him for that sort of advice?"

"I see your problem," John conceded, "but I'm hardly the ideal choice, as your girlfriend's dad."

"Suppose so," Josh acknowledged, "but you're also my mum's boyfriend. And unofficially my dad; mustn't forget that one. You've been called that three times now."

"I don't think that woman in the car park counts," John disputed.

"Yeah, well…," Josh began to say, and then lowered his eyes to gaze unseeing at the table top. "Forget it. It doesn't matter," he sadly mumbled. "I'll ask Mum later if it crops up."

"No, go on. You've got me intrigued now," John tried to encourage him.

"About what?" Ellie lilted as she entered the kitchen. "Morning, Dad! Morning, Josh. Did you sleep alright?"

He lifted his head to smile back at her. "Fine, thanks. Sorry I fell asleep on your bed like that."

She immediately shot a panicked look at her father. "We didn't do anything, Dad."

"I know. Just don't do it again, alright?" Both teenagers fervently nodded their agreement at John. "Good. Now that we've got that sorted, we'd better have some breakfast. I dunno about you but I'm starving."

A loud bleeping filled the air, and Josh pulled out his phone to consider the display with some surprise as the colour bled from his face.

"What is it?" Ellie asked, leaning over to look.

"It's more of a who," Josh admitted, and gulped nervously. "Apparently my dad wants to meet up and talk to me."

"That could be good news," John forced himself to say. "Does it say when?"

"No." Josh shook his head. "It merely asks if I'd be willing to see him. What should I say? Bloody hell!" He then quickly apologised, "Sorry, John. It's just…"

"It's okay. Do you want to see him?"

"I erm… I dunno. Not if he's going to start yelling again"

"He was horrible to you," Ellie commented, having gained her own helping of cereal from the cupboard. "Your mum should have punched him in the mouth."

"Ellie!" John gasped in horror.

"Well, she should have done," Ellie defended herself. "You weren't there. He doesn't deserve to be ever spoken to again."

"That isn't your decision; it's Josh's," John pointed out, noting that the lad was unusually quiet.

"Well, Josh? What's it to be?" she pressed as she sat down beside him. "Are you going to bother with your dad?"

"I'll decide for definite later on, when Mum gets back," Josh stated, still torn between several emotions.

"Surely you can't…," she started to argue, obviously puzzled why he was even considering such a move.

"Ellie, that's enough," John halted her possible tirade. "Now about this coffee and toast," he proposed, and got up to prepare them all generous helpings.

.

It was with trepidation that Donna entered the maths lecture room on Monday. Would the Witchettes of Eastwick be any nicer to her now? She very much doubted it.

This was soon borne out by one of them commenting "It'll be totally different now that you can't suck up to Dr Smith anymore" in her direction.

The evil mischievous cow! The vengeful side of her wanted to retort that she could suck up to him any time she wanted now, even or especially without the 'up' bit; but she restrained herself. That was for her to know and for them to find out. As it was, she had only just opened her mouth to making a biting retort when a bespectacled man wearing a worn brown suit strode into the room.

"Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late to the party, but at least I finally made it here this semester. I'm Ben Armstrong and I'll be your tutor for the rest of this academic year. Hopefully my friend John started you all off well." The lecturer beamed at them after having pushed his glasses up onto the top of his nose.

To her dismay, several faces turned and briefly gazed at Donna. One person even quietly uttered, "Somebody did alright out of him."

Donna was instantly mortified. Then to add to her horror, Ben peered at her intensely as though he was examining a bug. "Ah yes, you must be Donna."

"Guilty as charged," she announced as brightly as she could. "Is it good or bad that you know my name?"

"We'll see," he answered in a noncommittal way. "Right class; let's get started on today's topic which is springs and the forces that act upon them…"

It took all of her concentration to follow the lesson; so much so, that by the end of the lesson she had a headache. But it didn't stop there. Waiting as she usually did for everyone else to leave the room, Ben called her over.

"Can I have a quick word, Donna?" he requested.

"Sure. How can I help you?" she asked.

He looked rather guilty. "I'm not sure how to say this, but I've already heard rumours about you and John"

"We did nothing while he was my tutor beyond a drink at the pub on a Thursday night! And if you must know, we chatted about his daughter and my son all the time," she blazed. "They're both going out together."

Ben inclined his head. "I see," he said slowly. "Be that as it may, I want you to know that I won't accept favouritism in my classes, so you'll have to prove yourself in order to get any special treatment."

"What do you mean by prove myself?" she bristled. "Because if you think I'm going to pay my way through any 'special' favours, you can think again. Have you got that, sunshine?"

"Oh no no no no!" he exclaimed in horror. "That's not what I meant."

"Good," she huffed and straightened her shoulders. "I'm glad we got that bit sorted out. See you on Thursday."

And with that she left him standing there looking stunned in her wake.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** sorry about the swearing but that's the effect Peter has.  
**A/N2:** I'm sorry about the long delay in updating but my health continues to kick me in the teeth.

* * *

**Part 11**

.

"Oh great!" Donna muttered to herself as soon as she saw Carol bearing down on her in the corridor outside the lecture room. "Just what I need." Fixing a smile to her face, she greeted her friend. "Hello Carol. How are you?"

"Fine, thanks." Carol then stabbed an indignant finger in her direction. "You lied to me," she hissed. "All that…" She flailed her arms about in demonstration. "…faff about him not having a girlfriend, and what's the first thing he tells me?! That he's not only already got a girlfriend but she had him running off looking for her missing son! It could only be you!" She paused then a thought made her compassionately add, "I hope he's alright, by the way."

"Yeah, we found him easily enough. He'd gone looking for his dad," Donna supplied. "Gave me a right scare, I can tell you."

"It must have done," Carol acknowledged before remembering her anger. "But that doesn't excuse you and Doctor Smith!"

Looking about her, and fortunately seeing no one close by, Donna answered, "I wasn't lying at the time. Can we go somewhere more private and discuss this?"

After consulting her watch, Carol declared, "I know just the place that should be empty right now. Follow me."

Donna dutifully followed her down a long corridor before swerving left and the third door was thrust confidently open.

"Well?" she asked expectantly once the door of the office they entered was soundly closed behind them. "You were saying about you and the latest bloke you've got your talons in and away from me."

"Carol!" Donna gasped out in hurt tones. "I've never done that to you. Certainly not deliberately; unlike Nerys. Anyway… John and me accidentally met up on Josh's birthday, at the bowling alley." Not quite by accident, but she wasn't owning up to that one. "The new one down near Sainsbury's. You know the one. Anyway… When we decided to push the kids together to play a game, he was showing me how to bowl because I don't think I could have been more pathetic if I'd tried, and then we had… a _moment_."

"A moment," Carol repeated with interest, leaning forward to hear more. "Then what?"

"Ooh, he was so nice and gorgeous," Donna gushed, "and you should have seen him with Josh when we went for a birthday meal. I couldn't have asked for better."

"So you've been dating ever since?" Carol asked as she tried to work out the time line of their relationship.

"Oh no," Donna hastily denied. "We acknowledged that there was something there between us, like the adults we are, so we chose to postpone starting a proper relationship until he had officially left this sixth form college."

"Hang on; are you trying to tell me that the day he stated you were his girlfriend and chased your son all around London, was your first real date?" Carol queried, now highly amused by this thought.

Donna considered this viewpoint. "I suppose it was," she spluttered.

"Dead romantic," Carol scoffed. "But when you think about it, it really is. You've got yourself a good 'un there."

"I think I have," Donna allowed herself to boast, and gleefully grinned back at her friend.

.

Josh had had quite a good day at school. For a start, he'd been able to boast to Baz about spending the _whole_ weekend with Ellie as his girlfriend! Oh, you know, that had been sweet, then he had cosily smooched with her before Mr Burrows had turned up to their lesson together, and afterwards they had spent most of the dinner hour holding hands or kissing in her form room whilst Becky had been left out of it to make polite conversation with Baz. Not that he had anything against Becky per se, but she did tend to monopolise Ellie when they were in the same room. Yes, it'd been a good day. But leaving school and whilst heading for his Nan's house, his phone had rung and the display showed Ginger's number. This could only mean one thing; this was the threatened call from his father.

"Hello," he cautiously answered, prodding his finger in his ear so that he could hear the response more clearly against the noise of the passing London traffic.

"Hello Joshua. Josh. This is Peter Vincent calling. I mean… your father. But you can call me 'dad' if you want," Peter nervously replied. Good god! When had it ever been this hard to make a fucking phone call? What was the matter with him?! Thank God nobody else could hear him. The boy must think he was a right prick. "Or not. Whatever you choose is okay."

Josh smiled despite himself. It was funny to hear his father so flustered for once. This was far from the image he had held of his father since Friday night, but he found that he much preferred it. "Hello Dad," he said, realising that it was the first time in his life that he had ever properly uttered those words. The enormity of it almost crippled him for a second and slightly floundered. "How… how are you?"

"I'm fine, Josh. How are you?" Peter politely responded whilst wanting to hit himself in the face for being so banal! He gained the mumbled "Fine" in response that he had expected. "Look, I wanted to speak to you because I won't be in London for much longer. We fly home on Thursday."

Only three more days and then he'd be gone for ever. Josh felt his spirits instantly drop. He'd hoped they'd get longer. "I see," he forced himself to say. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Well, it wasn't as though the question would chase his father out of his life any more than he was doing already, was it? It was all here today and gone tomorrow with him.

At this point in his journey home his attention was focused on crossing the road without getting hit by a passing car while he waited for any response on the phone. In fact he had reached the corner of his street by the time Peter admitted anything.

Peter had wanted to shout "What the fuck do you want me to say to you?!" but he had held it in. It wouldn't do to let his nervousness bring out his angry side. So instead he waited until he had calmed down before speaking. "I wanted to try and get to know you a bit better. You know, try and do some father and son stuff, whatever that is." He agitatedly pushed a hand through his hair. "I've no idea how to do this fathering thing. Why the fuck would I? It's not as though I remember much about my own dad." He then thought to add, "Sorry about the swearing. I know that one isn't allowed."

"No, it isn't," Josh agreed, resisting the urge to giggle, but remembering the way he'd been received. "And it's alright; Mum said that you'd probably do a lot of swearing."

"She spoke about me?" Peter wondered, clearly not expecting that. "No doubt it was to slag me off."

"Mum isn't like that," Josh defended her. "She's tried hard not to be mean about you."

"Yeah, I'm sure she has," Peter mumbled in disbelief. "Probably couldn't fucking wait…"

"I'd better go," Josh decided, in hurt tones. If this was going to turn into some sort of slanging match or a means to put her down, he didn't want to know. It was bad enough putting up with his Nan's snipes.

"No, don't go!" Peter begged. "I'm sorry. Please let me see you. I'm not trying to take the place of your dad but I am your real father."

"Dad? What dad?" Josh queried, now completely puzzled. "I haven't got any other dad."

"The man you called 'dad' the other night," Peter tightly supplied against his better judgement. Would he ever be able to get the image out of his head? It hurt to be replaced so easily; even if he deserved it.

"Did I…? Oh yes!" Josh remembered the scene. "That was John, Ellie my girlfriend's dad. I said it as a joke. How did you know?"

"It didn't look like a joke from where I was standing," Peter murmured, his voice barely audible. "Oh, I find out these things," he declared. "Anyway, can we get together for a face to face chat; say, tomorrow?"

Josh's journey was almost complete and he was standing outside his Nan's house by this point in the conversation, and knew he would have to cut things short in order to avoid having to divulge everything. "I'll er… have to ask Mum first, when she gets in from college, but I'll let you know later. Bye then!" he cheerily ended the phone call as Sylvia appeared at the open doorway. Good, she hadn't overheard.

"Bye!" Peter called back and then gazed in confusion at the phone in his hand. Why had it all ended so abruptly? Had he messed it up?

"What did he say?" Ginger asked as she swept into the room. She was immediately concerned about the lack of pleasure on his face.

"He'll let me know later if he's allowed to see me tomorrow," he supplied. "Fuck! Was it wrong to phone him?"

"No." She consoled him by wrapping her arms around his waist. "You did it right."

"Then why did he sound so off at the end?"

"I don't know," she admitted, adding in a shrug.

.

It was Sylvia who informed Donna about the phone call, soon after she arrived home from college. "Our Josh had a call from _him_!"

"Who?" she inevitably asked.

"That waste of space so-called father of his," Sylvia sneered as she bustled about wiping down the kitchen worktops, cleaning them to within an inch of their lives. "He had the cheek to phone him up on the way home from school."

Donna sighed in resignation. "Mum, I did warn you that he would."

"Doesn't mean he should though," Sylvia argued. "He's got a flipping cheek!"

Ignoring that, Donna asked, "Where is Josh?"

"Up in his bedroom, listening to that awful music of his as he does his homework," Sylvia supplied. "If you ask me, they ought to chuck it all out of the window."

"Well, we weren't asking you and maybe it's you that should be chucked out of a window," Donna muttered to herself as she ascended the stairs to find her son. Reaching the small bedroom where he slept, she politely rapped on the door. "Permission to come aboard, sir!"

"Permission granted," Josh giggled. "Hello Mum," he fondly greeted her when she embraced him. "I had a call from Dad."

"So I hear," she admitted, kissing his cheek. "What did he say?"

"Nothing much beyond saying he didn't know how to do father son stuff but could we meet tomorrow," he replied, and pushed his papers aside so that she could sit down next to him on the bed. "He's flying home on Thursday, so time is limited."

She placed her hand on his knee in consolation. "It's entirely up to you. If you want to go then you must."

"Are you sure?" he wary tried to confirm.

"You've always wanted to see him and find out what's he's like. Here's your chance, so take it," she encouraged. "Go and ask the questions you want to know; don't let anything or anyone get in your way. Not even me."

"I love you, Mum," he declared, throwing his arms fiercely around her neck to hug her tight.

"Love you too, Bunnikins," she whispered into his ear.

.

"He's doing what?!" Sylvia complained loudly when Donna got downstairs and informed her what was happening. "Why are you letting him do that?"

"Because he has the right to see his own father," Donna defended the decision. "Peter is only in the country for a few more days so he won't be getting in your way; so you don't even have to give him an ultimatum."

By now Sylvia was aggressively folding up clean towels. "What do you mean? Why would he be getting in my way?"

"He wouldn't," Donna bit back, "just like he wasn't when you chucked him out of the house and out of my life."

Sylvia stilled. "Pardon?!"

"You heard, mother." Donna could feel her anger growing. "The last time Peter ever stepped foot near you, you told him, in no uncertain terms, to bugger off and never come back."

"So what if I did," Sylvia snorted. "He was no good for you."

"How lovely of you to ask me. I'm especially grateful that I was the only mother on the ward without her partner there when I gave birth," Donna sarcastically proclaimed. "During the time Josh had breathing problems, the sleepless nights; and every milestone in his life. Yes, it's been wizard!"

"Me and your dad were there, so I don't know what you've got to complain about." Sylvia looked unrepentant.

It was no good arguing with her, Donna decided. "I don't suppose you do. I mean, who would want the man they loved to be there as her husband and father of her child. Yes, completely silly of me."

"Now you're just sounding daft," Sylvia announced and picked up the basket of laundry she had been fussing with. "Do you want these clean bits left on your bed?"

"Yes please," Donna sadly replied, now proven right; and silently vowed that she would let Josh have any access that he wanted with Peter. Well, one of them needn't lose out.

.

Josh nervously entered the hotel and walked up to the reception desk. He waited until the receptionist lifted her head and gained eye contact before speaking. "I'm here to see my…" He gulped. No publicity, he reminded himself; none of any kind. "…To see Peter Vincent in room 601. I'm Josh Noble. They should be expecting me."

"Just one moment, please," she chimed, and plucked up a phone before dialling a number. "There's a Josh Noble here to see Mr Vincent." Replacing the receiver, she smiled professionally pleasantly and told him, "Go on up, he's expecting you. We'll bring the tea things up in a few moments."

Tea?! His dad was offering him tea? Well! This was vastly different from the other day; and almost domestic. Weird.

It was Ginger who greeted him at the door, giving him an ecstatic hug. As she led him to a seat in front of a coffee table, she informed him, "I'm going to leave you two together while I go watch my programme on Netflix. You want anything before I go?"

"No, thank you," Josh politely replied. "But you should know that Mum will be coming to meet me straight after work."

"That's good, I think," Ginger responded warily. "I make sure he knows."

Then she drifted off, leaving Josh on his own, nervously fidgeting. A knock on the suite door made him jump, but before he could move his father appeared and answered it. On the other side stood one of the hotel workers holding a laden tea tray.

"Aw, thank fuck for that!" Peter exclaimed. "I've been dying for a decent cup of tea. What's in the sandwiches?"

The tray carrier entered and set the tray down onto the table in front of Josh. "There's cured ham, smoked salmon, prawn Marie Rose, and cheddar cheese. On the other plate is a selection of our finest cream cakes. I hope you enjoy them."

Peter suitably thanked him and ushered him out, leaving him awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. "It's good to see you," he managed to say.

Taking that as his cue, Josh replied, "It's good to see you too." He wanted to add "properly, at long last" but held it in. The arrival of the food had reminded him that he was starving and couldn't wait to eat.

"Don't wait for me, tuck in," Peter invited him, waving a hand vaguely towards the goodies on the tray. "I'll pour the tea out." He sat down close to Josh and fiddled about with the cups, milk, and then the tea pot before he began to pour out the amber liquid. "You don't tend to get a proper afternoon tea in Las Vegas," he commented conversationally. "Come to that, I don't usually get to be 'mother' either."

Josh giggled through the bite of sandwich he was taking at that point. "I can't imagine you in a dress," he cheekily observed.

Fortunately Peter was amused too. "No, I'm nowhere near drunk enough for that." Oops! He shouldn't have said that, even if it was true. "No one says they're being mother when they pour a drink either. It isn't that sort of a place."

"What's it like?" Josh eagerly asked. "In Las Vegas? Is it like the films?"

"For a start it's fucking hot! Everywhere has air conditioning otherwise we'd melt." Peter pointed at his face. "You can imagine how pink I used to go with this complexion, and don't talk to me about getting sunburnt. I soon got m'self a job out of the direct sun, I can tell you. The beauty of what I do is that I work at night, so I don't have to go out in that goddamn sun for very long."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** sorry about the long wait but I've been feeling like crap the last few days. I do apologise - no idea what happened with all that code stuff that appeared here (many thanks to **RainGirl9** for pointing it out), but it's fixed now.

* * *

**Part 12**

.

"It says on the internet that you are a masterful magician," Josh boasted as he bit into a cake, "one of THE very best. Adored by thousands of people in America."

"Well…" Peter did his best to modestly wave that compliment off, but he couldn't keep the proud grin off his face. "Enough to earn a decent living on the stage."

"I wish I could see you," Josh wistfully muttered. "I tried to get hold of a DVD of your show, but nobody had even heard of you here until the other day."

"You've told nobody of our connection," Peter fearfully implored him, "have you?"

"No, nobody," Josh supplied, hurt by his tone. "When they ask about you I just tell people I don't know because my dad ran away to America."

"I didn't fucking run away!" Peter spat out, and then thought better of it. "I was offered an opportunity, and I took it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Anger blazed in young Josh. "It certainly seemed that way to me and Mum. You never contacted us for years after she had to prove I was yours."

"About that…," Peter began to guiltily say, and shifted in his seat. "The money business was because I kept getting women claiming I'd knocked them up and given them a sprog when I'd never even met them apart from signing an autograph. It got ridiculous. And I could easily believe that Don-your mother could get herself pregnant by another man, any man that she wanted."

"How could you believe that she'd lie to you like that?!" Josh indignantly wondered, halting in his eating fest. "Look at me! There's no way I could be anybody else's kid. Mum says I'm the spitting image of you."

"Yes, well, I didn't know until I saw you with my own eyes," Peter admitted. "And I agree, you've grown into almost an exact copy of me when I was a teenager; but without all the emotional baggage, of course."

"Maybe, but I do have my own fair share of what you call 'emotional baggage'," Josh bit back, "so don't go thinking that I got off light."

"In what way?" Peter sneered in disbelief. "Did you drop your packet of Smarties or something?"

"What?! Can you hear yourself? My father abandoned me before I was even born, he rejected me after he saw me when I was little; and right after the first chance he ever had to speak to me properly grown up, he abused my mother and called me her bastard! No, of course that hasn't had a negative effect upon me. Why ever would it do so?" Josh raged sarcastically. "I have spent my whole life living near the poverty line despite my father's life of luxury, and my mum has had to work all the hours god sends in order to keep me. Do you have any idea how horrible some of the blokes in _her_ life have been towards me? They've wanted me dead."

Fighting off guilt, Peter's face went thunderous. "Don't give me the whole fucking sob story. It won't wash. At least you had a mother. I didn't! I learnt very quickly to rely upon myself. Me and only me!" he emphasised, thumping his chest.

"You could have had Mum but you chucked her away as soon as you found out she was having me," Josh countered. "I know she was there for you so don't try and pretend otherwise."

To his surprise, Peter sagged in his seat. "She was," he confessed in a small voice. Donna had never betrayed him; even when he stupidly thought she had. "I loved her so much! I royally fucked things up."

'Don't cry on me. Please don't cry on me,' Josh hastily thought. "If you loved Mum so much, why did you leave us?" he finally risked asking, speaking quietly.

Peter adjusted his trousers as he visibly squirmed. "Ah, that's the sixty four thousand dollar question," he commented, averting his gaze. "Why did I do that? I could kick myself in the balls for being such a coward."

When it looked as though no more would be said on the subject, Josh warily asked, "Do you still love Mum?"

With a shake of his head, Peter admitted, "No, not anymore. I still fancy her, but that ain't the same thing. No, I made sure I killed off that feeling long ago. Ran away from it just as much as I ran from that nasty tongue of the interfering fuckup of a grandmother of yours. The bitch! She always was out to ruin everything between Donna and me once she found out we was more than just friends." A slow smile of remembrance crossed his face. "To think we could barely keep our hands off each other back then. Talk about make it obvious. We tried to wait, you know, until we were married; but fuck she was gorgeous! I just couldn't resist, especially when she…" He gave a cough as his gaze landed on Josh. "Enough about that. It's all water under the bridge. We've moved on."

"What about me?"

"What about you?" Peter shot him a puzzled look.

"I mean, are you pleased I'm your son?" Josh clarified. "Or is this going to be the one and only time I get to see you to talk to. I suppose you're ashamed of the fact I exist; it's always seemed that way to me, even though I know you are going to deny it to my face."

"Josh," Peter began to say, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. "I'm trying to make amends, mate. You may have been out of sight, but out of mind? No, it doesn't work like that. I've often wondered about you, how you are; and if it weren't for Ginger tracking you down, I'd probably still be doing only that."

"You could have easily found me if you really wanted to," Josh blurted out in frustration. "I don't understand why you didn't."

"The time just seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, a decade had whizzed past," Peter honestly answered. "Far too long a time to risk finding and contacting you, because I thought you'd hate me for it." When Josh merely glared at him, he added, "And there was all that other business, I didn't want anyone dangerous being able to find you."

"Are you… have you been threatened?" Josh asked with horror.

"You could say that," Peter confessed, and popped a whole pastry into his mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. "There are bad people out there who might target you purely because of who you are in relation to me, but you're of an age now where you're not so in danger of being caught out by them."

The possible identity of such people occurred to Josh. "Is it the mafia? Are you saying that some sort of gangland boss is after you?!"

"No. Yes, but not in the way you mean." Peter smiled weakly. "No, I'm talking about a whole different level of scary."

.

Donna didn't bother with the receptionist. Blow doing that! If Peter deemed fit to treat her like some employment interviewee she'd have his guts for garters.

As it was, Peter was extremely wary when he opened the suite door to her. "Hello Donna," he said, holding the door wider in invitation for her to enter. His voice then went exceptionally low as she reached his shoulder. "What have you told him?"

That had a million possible answers. "About what?"

"You know," he stressed.

Ah, he meant his parents' death. "Nothing beyond the bare basics. The where and the when. Why?" She was instantly anxious about how worried he looked. "Have you heard anything?"

"I keep vigilant," he carefully enunciated. "Do you think he's old enough to cope?"

"Well, he's not daft if that's what you mean," she responded. "Why don't you try telling him and find out."

"What if he goes hunting them?" he fretted.

"He won't, but he does need to know," she reasoned. "Forewarned is forearmed."

He nodded in agreement. "This is going to be hard."

"How many people have you told?" she asked in deep concern.

"You might not believe this," he sighed, "but no one since I left London."

"Funnily enough, I can." She smiled whimsically. "Oh, come on! Everyone knows you'd keep even the colour of your socks secret if you could. You just love your mysteries."

He lightly laughed. "That's true."

.

"Mum!" Josh cried with delight when he walked in through an inner door. "Ginger's just been showing me photos of their home in Las Vegas. Dad said I might be able to go stay with him for a while once I've finished my GCSEs next summer."

"Did he?" Donna shot Peter an accusing look.

He had the grace to look contrite. "I thought it could be a reward for him studying so hard. You know, it seemed a good idea at the time."

Josh beamed with excitement. "Thanks, Dad! I promise I'll do my best."

"You'd better." Peter playfully waggled a finger in his direction. "As I said, I have ways of finding out; and don't let having a girlfriend distract you from your studies."

He said what! Donna raised an eyebrow in question.

But Josh ignored her peeved expression and readily vowed, "I won't. Anyway, Ellie would thump me if she doesn't get straight As or A*s."

"You're capable of getting all As too," Donna encouraged him. "So you could study together if need be."

"Well, she's already suggested that but I'm not as clever as her," Josh stated sadly, giving his ear a comforting rub. "I only got a B in geography."

"Then try harder, son," Peter said, ruffling Josh's hair. "You've got time to boost that grade." He then turned to Donna to ask, "Can't you get him a personal tutor to help?"

"Erm… money," she helplessly admitted, throwing up her hands in defeat. "I can't afford one of those."

"John said he'd help me," Josh piped up. "He's clever at loads of stuff."

Peter froze. "Is this the same John as the other night?" he icily wondered.

"John's my friend from college. He's a university lecturer," Donna hastily supplied, "with wide-ranging knowledge."

"I thought you said he's your girlfriend's dad?" Peter sneered.

"He is. And he's Mum's friend too. Isn't he, Mum?" Josh smiled wanly. "So that's good. All friendly like." He nervously gulped; half expecting his dad to kick off again.

"I'd better get you home for dinner before your Nan goes on the warpath again," Donna deliberately changed the subject. "No doubt your dad has commitments tonight."

"I suppose we'd better," Josh sadly agreed.

"Why are you still living with that cow?" Peter queried. "Or has she had a change of heart and become nicer to you all of a sudden?"

"She's not too bad most of the time. It was her idea that I give up the flat and go live with her to save money."

"So that she could manipulate you, you mean," Peter commented, noting the small nod of agreement Josh made. "She never could stand you achieving something she personally hadn't picked out. What did she say about you coming here?"

"Nothing," Donna tried to deny.

"She complained like hell," Josh blurted out. "I heard her having a go at Mum, and she… she wasn't very nice about you."

As Donna gasped "Josh!" in horror, Peter muttered, "What a fucking surprise. The evil cow!"

"It's just something she says," Donna tried to calm him. "You know what she's like. It means nothing."

A decision was instantly made in his mind. "Are you free tomorrow night? I've got to record two radio interviews in the afternoon, a quick guest spot on some TV show near the National Theatre, and then I'm free for the evening."

"I'm supposed to be going to Ellie's… but I can get out of that," Josh stammered, unbelievably pleased that Peter wanted to spend more time with him. "Unless she can come too?" he almost pleaded.

"I'm not sure. It's up to your dad," Donna cagily allowed.

Peter mulled that over. Could he cope with some full-on domestics? Until recently he hadn't even thought he'd cope with meeting his son, let alone seeing Donna face to face again. Although it wasn't as though the boy was engaged to his girlfriend or anything. They'd only just started going out together. But there was the mystery of her father, the infamous John, whose appearance had riled him so much. Did he actually want to meet him yet? And could he avoid punching his lights out if he did?"

Uh oh! Donna recognised the scowl on Peter's face as being potentially dangerous. "Maybe next time," she suggested.

"No, it's alright," Peter surprised her by saying. "We'll all go out for dinner, on me. I'll get my PA to book a table for us all and send a car to pick you up."

"Don't go too posh," Donna begged and then picked at her clothing. "As you can tell, we don't have expensive clothes to wear so I would look out of place in the type of restaurant you're probably used to."

"Fuck how they expect people to dress!" Peter retorted. "You're fine just as you are. I ain't dressing up special just to please some poncey restaurant snobby wankers." When she still looked wary, his voice softened. "But I'll give you some money to buy a new dress, if you want."

"There's no need to do that," she insisted, now embarrassed.

"I mean it," he stressed and drew his wallet out of his pocket. Rifling through it, he pulled out some notes and pressed them into her hand. "Go on, treat yourself. You're worth it," he tried to gently persuade her. "Whatever you wear, you'll look gorgeous."

Josh stood watching this exchange wide-eyed with curiosity. Finally he could see why his parents had got together in the first place; but the illusion was soon broken by Donna snorting her derision, just as he had expected her to.

"Laying it on a bit thick today, Peter," she scoffed. "You seem to think I've forgotten about the beauty who is your current girlfriend."

Smiling shyly, he commented, "You have always been beautiful to me."

"Geroff!" she exclaimed, now blushing furiously. How dare he make her feel like a schoolgirl again! "Just make sure that you give us a chance to get in from work, have a wash and change before any taxi arrives."

Peter beamed back at her in triumph. "See you all tomorrow night."

.

It had been quite exciting getting dressed up for their evening meal in the end. Donna had sat smirking with suppressed glee as they travelled towards the restaurant Peter had chosen, smoothing a hand down the soft blue fabric of the dress he had paid for. As far as she was concerned it could have been MacDonald's they were going to and she'd have been okay about it, but she knew Peter would be out to impress them now that a connection had been made.

The car drew up outside a prettily lit ultra-modern hotel with a name she'd never heard of before. "Ooh!" Josh to the side of her enthused in awe. "Is Dad here yet?"

"I doubt it," she answered, "not if he can make an impressive entrance instead."

They were directed to the hotel restaurant once they had stepped out into the cool evening air. And as anticipated, they were the first to arrive; so in a fit of rebellion, she ordered them drinks from the bar while they waited. Fortunately John and Ellie soon appeared and fond greetings were exchanged.

"It looks good in here," John remarked as he sat himself down next to Donna, drink in hand. "And may I say that you are looking especially lovely this evening, Ms Noble."

"You can say that," she allowed as he leaned in to lightly kiss her lips. "You're looking quite handsome yourself tonight, Dr Smith." And he did, dressed as he was in his best suit.

He feigned arrogantly adjusting the sleeves of his jacket. "This old thing? Perhaps I should wear it more often," he observed when her hand landed on his thigh and smoothed a path upwards along it.

A sudden clatter by the glass doors to the waiting area they sat in announced to the world the arrival of Peter and Ginger. She had on a sleek little black satin dress that emphasised her skin tone, her lean figure and luscious legs, whilst Peter wore black leather trousers topped by a black silk shirt and jacket combination.

"Ah good, you're here," he jovially proclaimed. "Would you care to introduce me, Donna?"

Josh gave Ellie's hand a possessive and encouraging squeeze.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I am so sorry about the long delay in updating this.

* * *

**Part 13**

.

"Well, you've already seen Ellie, Josh's girlfriend, before but this is her father, Dr John Smith," Donna began, pointing them both out as she made the introductions. "John, this is Josh's dad, Peter, and his girlfriend Ginger."

There were handshakes all round and "Pleased to meet you", and then they were instantly ushered to their waiting table by an efficient member of staff. The area of the restaurant they sat in overlooked the River Thames, giving them a spectacular view along the river of several well-known London landmarks.

So the adults exchanged polite chit chat about the choice of restaurant, the traffic getting there, generalised questions about John's work, and then Peter regaled them with tales of his visit to the city. Ellie in particular was impressed with all the famous people he had recently rubbed shoulders with. In fact, she constantly near squealed and grabbed at Josh's arm, restating the names his father was reeling off. Josh sat there glowing with pride and reflected glory.

What soon became clear to Donna was that, as the meal progressed on, Peter and John continuously gave each other curious little glances as they weighed one another up. Each time Peter stopped himself from swearing, Donna wanted to laugh. It must have been killing him to hold his usual expletives in and be on his best behaviour.

It was dessert that proved to be his breaking point. "I don't know if you've heard this already, John, but your face is awfully familiar. Where have I seen you before?" Peter asked with great curiosity as he peered at his guest. "Any ideas, Joshie?" He turned his head towards his son in anticipation of the correct answer.

"It's Josh; and no, I don't know where you would have seen John," he admitted. "I only saw him for the first time a month or so ago."

Peter took another gulp from his glass of red wine and returned to staring at John. "I could swear that I've seen you. Been on the telly or anything?"

"No, not to my knowledge," John supplied. "But your face is familiar too. What school did you go to?"

It was as if a shutter came down over Peter's face. His light mood disappeared in an instant. "All over the place. Nowhere in particular, but that's probably it. I met Donna at Chiswick Grammar," he added, waving his spoon vaguely in her direction. Obviously he wanted to change the subject. "We were quite an item together back then."

"An item of what?" Donna sarcastically wondered.

"That's funny!" Ginger guffawed appreciatively. "Peter never talks about his life in England. I think he ran away."

Donna could feel John regarding her horrified expression with interest. No doubt she would have to offer some explanation for this at a later date. "I'm a very scary person," she joked, hoping to wake Peter up from his morose mood. "Who can blame him for legging it as fast as he could from me?"

"You did," Josh bitterly muttered to her side, but she would let that go for now if Peter could ignore it.

"Your mother was always much scarier than you," Peter remarked to Donna. He went to say something else but thought better of it. "How do you find Sylvia, John?"

"She's what we would call 'a challenge' from what I've heard," John cautiously replied. "But I could be wrong."

"No, mate. She's a bitch," Peter spat out.

"Oi! That's my mother you're talking about," Donna defended her.

"Are you seriously saying that your mum has changed?" Peter queried in amazement. "The Pope would rather come out as a lesbian!"

"Of course I'm not saying she's changed," Donna reluctantly agreed, "but I have to live with her, and she's let me follow my dream to do some studying."

"I bet she just loved making you grovel for permission," Peter commented, and sat back in satisfaction, quaffing the last of his wine. "It must have made her day to have you exactly where she wanted you again."

"Yes… well…" Donna blushed and dipped her head as his words struck home.

John immediately grasped her hand underneath the table, silently offering unconditional support. "Sylvia doesn't know everything."

"Yeah," Peter loudly agreed. "Like she doesn't know where you got that dress from." He leaned forward to compliment her. "You look gorgeous, by the way. Don't you think so, Ginger?"

"You've drunk too much," she admonished him. "Stop it."

"Don't you fucking start!" Peter grumbled. "All this yap yap yap." He did an accompanying hand gesture, much to Ginger's annoyance. "Tell me, John, exactly what would you pay for such a dress?"

"Anything Donna wanted," John firmly answered, glaring as he did so.

Peter attempted to roll his eyes in exasperation. This new man friend of Donna's was beginning to really annoy him for some reason. "I'm going for a piss," he felt the need to announce to the table as he stood up. "Won't be long."

They all watched him stagger off. "I'm so sorry," Ginger immediately apologised. "I did not think he would be like this."

"These things happen. It isn't your fault," John consoled her.

"It really isn't," Donna agreed. "He's always was an arse when he drank too much."

"Is he going to get violent?" Josh anxiously asked.

"No," John vowed, "I'll take you both home long before that can happen."

"He is a nice man, your friend John," Ginger told Donna. "He will make a fine father for Josh."

Mortified at the implication, Donna feebly answered, "Thanks."

"Is London what you expected it to be?" John asked Ginger in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"It is so cold here," Ginger complained. "I freeze every day. How do you people live with it?"

"Because we have to," John pleasantly answered, smiling with amusement at her tone. "It's part of being British, I'm afraid."

"It's wrong," Ginger commented petulantly. "No wonder Peter is so pale and won't sit in the sun."

Donna had to bite her lip when John joked, "Perhaps he is a vampire?" It wouldn't do to say anything about such creatures.

.

Out in the public restrooms, Peter was washing his hands and gazing at himself in a large mirror above the sinks. "What the fuck are you on?" he admonished himself in a harsh whisper. "You don't need to impress her anymore. Although it wouldn't hurt to get back into her good books, especially if it helps with Josh. He needs a father. _Me_, his real and proper one. Who is this John Smith anyway? Oops!" he sarcastically corrected himself. "_Doctor_ John Smith. Mustn't forget he's some god-almighty fancy university lecturer. Bloody know it all, swanning about, rubbing it in my face that he went school and had parents." He sneered at his reflection and used a mocking whiney voice to say, "_He's clever at loads of stuff._ Well, you can keep your fucking hands off my son!" Drawing in a deep breath, he momentarily shut his eyes and chanted, "You can do this, Peter. You know you can. Go out there and act like a civilised human being. Don't fuck this up too."

With one last look at himself, he aimed for the restaurant table where his nearest thing to a genuine family sat waiting for him. As he returned through the large glass doors that announced the perimeter of the restaurant, Peter stopped short when he saw John holding Donna's hand beneath the table, his wrist resting lightly on her thigh. All of Peter's hard-won calm instantly vanished into the ether.

"What the fuck is going on?!" he demanded.

They all jumped at his tone.

"Peter, I have something to explain," Donna began to say as he glared at her, his eyes momentarily flicking to beneath the table.

"Too fucking right you do!" Peter griped. "Out with it."

"There's no need for that attitude," John scolded him. "Nor is there any need for your swearing."

"Oh no?" Peter countered, and took a menacing step closer. "Shall we take this outside and decide what is exactly appropriate in front of my son? Because you are pushing the limits, pal!"

Ginger squealed in horror as John pushed back his chair and both men stood up in anger to face each other. "Peter, don't be like this!" she begged. "Just sit down with us. Please."

Within seconds the maître d' rushed over to ask as pleasantly as he could, "Is there anything wrong, gentlemen?"

"Stop it, Peter!" Donna hissed as she tugged John down into his seat beside her. "That is enough."

Ginger fervently gestured at him to sit down. "Idiot," she drawled quietly. "Sit."

"It's alright, thanks," Peter answered the maître d' tightly, and allowed himself to be seated back at the table. "Just a small misunderstanding. All sorted now. We're fine." He waited until the man had walked away before goading Donna, "Go on then; explain."

"The thing is," Donna hesitantly began.

"Donna and I are a little more than friends," John confidently continued for her; almost daring Peter to make a scene about it. "In fact, we've started going out together. Do you have a problem with that? Although, quite frankly, I see no reason why you should do."

"There's a lot of things you don't seem to be seeing," Peter tetchily commented. "Like how you are trying to take my son away from me."

"Oh for the love of God, how can he do that?" Donna queried in disbelief. "You may have only just discovered the role, but you are Josh's father. You will always be his father no matter how much of a prat you are. He isn't going to give you up unless you drive him away, and even then I doubt you'll manage it."

Josh did his best to look supportive, sweet and accepting. "Probably," he murmured.

John audibly sighed in exasperation. When Peter glared at him, John added, "I assure you that I have no intention of ousting you from Josh's life, with or without Sylvia's blessing."

"You've met her?" Peter warily asked.

"Yes," John supplied, aiming for some common ground, "and she isn't the most welcoming woman in the world, shall we say."

"Tell me about it," Peter stated with heartfelt sadness. "That fucking woman is the human equivalent of a Rottweiler."

Ellie uncertainly giggled. She didn't know what else to do in this situation. It was way outside her previous experience before being Josh's girlfriend.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Peter slurred towards her, and waved his hand about. "If you've met Josh's Nan you'll know how much she can make you swear. She'd try the patience of a saint."

Seeing that Ellie was still eaten up with nerves, Donna pushed her chair backwards, and suggested, "Ellie, why don't we go and use the toilets before we head for home?"

"Yes please," Ellie readily agreed, keen to get away from the table.

"Won't be long," Donna announced to the table, and then she led Ellie away to their temporary sanctuary.

"I thought there was going to be a real fight for a minute. Is everything now okay with you and Josh's dad, I mean your ex?" Ellie nervously asked Donna as they washed their hands in the wash basins of the women's toilets.

"As good as it ever will be," Donna honestly consoled her.

"Are you sure?" Ellie continued. "He's a bit scary," she then whispered in confidence.

"Don't let him intimate you," Donna advised. "He's all bark and no bite, that one. Come here." She wrapped her arms around the girl, hugging her close. "How about we guilt him into treating the pair of you into a lovely long holiday in Las Vegas next year?"

Ellie sniggered. "Would that really work?"

Donna playfully shrugged her shoulders. "We won't know until we try, and I'm determined to give it a good go."

Smiling with renewed confidence, they headed back towards the restaurant table.

When they got there, Peter was paying the bill and refusing any offer from John to help towards it. "No, it's my treat," Peter insisted. "It's not often I get to see Josh, let alone treat him."

"And whose fault is that?" Donna risked enquiring as she reached him. "Any time you feel like splashing out on something extravagant like school uniform, books or food, don't let me stop you."

"Ah," Peter slurred, and reached out to draw Josh close to him, keeping his arm around his son's shoulders. "This might be the start of a whole new chapter in his life. Him and me could become inseparable."

Josh did his level best not to look deeply embarrassed by this sudden attack of attention. "May be," he agreed.

"Or this could be a huge case of drunken promises," Donna reasoned. "We shall see, won't we?"

"Honest, Donna," Peter insisted. "This is me being sincere." He added in a squeeze for Josh. "I want to give being a proper dad a go."

"Just don't give up after five seconds, that's all I ask," Donna requested. "What time did you book the taxi home for?" she asked as she sought out her handbag.

They all stood and got ready to leave. It wouldn't take long to walk to the main doors.

John found the bag sitting underneath her chair and handed it over. As he did so, he reached out towards Donna, hoping to catch a private moment with her. "About later," he started to query, but Peter loomed large in his peripheral vision; almost intimidatingly so, to his annoyance.

"Got a busy day teaching tomorrow, have you, John?" Peter enquired jovially, "all those little eager schoolchildren."

"Not really, Peter," John answered, sidestepping the implied insult. "The busy stuff starts properly next week when the freshers begin lectures."

"Oh." Peter felt a little bit defeated by that, but he couldn't explain to himself why. "You busy tomorrow, Donna?"

"It's a college day for me," she replied, "so I need to have my brain in gear to cope with it."

That was just what he wanted to hear! "Then you'll need an early night and some decent sleep," Peter proclaimed. "Straight home for you."

She frowned at him in confusion as they sauntered out of the restaurant. It was on the tip of her tongue to demand since when had he cared whether she had a good night's sleep or not. He'd certainly been the cause of her broken nights in the past.

Seeing her flash of anger, John casually put in, "We can meet up tomorrow night just like we used to, but this time we can move the venue to my house."

The thought made her giggle. What would the Witchettes of Eastwick think of her, going home with 'teacher'? "You cheapskate, not taking me out somewhere," she teased.

"Oh, I have plans," John admitted somewhat airily. "We can order in some pizza, have an early night and have you home by breakfast."

He waggled his eyebrows playfully at her, so she swatted his arm. "Shush, you! Not in front of Peter or the kiddiwinkies."

"Did you mention a pizza date?" Josh suddenly broke from his conversation with Ginger and Ellie to ask with keen interest. "Can I come too? I might need some help with my physics homework," he then proposed in order to entice John further. "Since you offered."

It was hard for John to ignore Josh's keen expression, especially when it touched on a subject so close to his heart. "Alright," he half reluctantly agreed, "you can come too; but you'd better bring your books."

"I will," Josh confirmed, hastily nodding his head before John could change his mind. Pizza, more time with Ellie and the possibility that he'd get top marks for his next homework assignment. What more could he want? And then he happened to glance at his father's face, and he felt a stab of guilt as well as fear at what he saw there. "Are you alright, Dad?"

"Yeah. Fine and dandy," Peter retorted. He would have said more but he spotted the taxi cab sitting waiting to take Josh and Donna home. "You take care of yourself," he bade goodbye, hugging his son close, "and I'll be in touch soon. Promise."

Manfully, Josh held back tears as he returned the embrace. "Bye, Dad," he near whispered, gave Ginger a brief hug too with accompanying kiss on the cheek, and made a quick grab for Ellie's hand as he climbed into the taxi.

The other taxi, to take John and Ellie, pulled up, so there was a flurry of handshakes, 'thank you's, and then Peter was left standing outside the hotel with only Ginger, watching his guests disappear into the distance.

"See! I said this would work," Ginger gloated, and then gave him a comforting hug.

"Get off me you silly bitch," he complained without any fire or attempt to push her away. "We'd better go and finish our packing."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** I am so sorry about the long delay with this one, and I cannot exactly blame my appalling lack of internet access for it either.

* * *

**Part 14**

.

It was as Donna started to get ready for bed that she received a phone call from an unknown number. Expecting to be able to get the chance to vent her anger at some cold caller, she pressed the answer button. To her surprise it wasn't an unwanted stranger but Peter calling her.

"Hello Donna. Sorry about it being so late but I need to talk to you," he quickly told her before he lost his bottle.

"Hello Peter," she automatically replied. "How did you even get this number?"

"Oh erm… from Josh. Ginger got it from Josh, just in case anything happened. I hope you don't mind," he nervously stammered. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. What I want to know is can I come and talk to you in private, without lover boy being around?"

Still stunned, she responded, "Well, yes; I suppose. When were you thinking of? Tomorrow before you fly home would be a bit awkward because I've got to be in college first thing in the morning."

"How about now? Right this second," he proposed. He pushed on when he didn't get an instant reply of 'No'. "In fact, I'm sitting outside the house, in a taxi, if you're willing to talk to me."

"What!" she exclaimed. "But Mum is here, in bed. You know what she thinks about you."

"I do but… fuck her, Donna," he bitterly commented. "This is too important to let her spoil it."

"Alright then," she practically whispered into the phone. "But no shouting. Do you hear me?"

"See you in a second," he triumphantly agreed.

Causing as little sound as possible, Donna then raced down the stairs to open the front door. Peter was standing on the outside front doormat under the feeble porchlight, looking rather chuffed with himself. She silently beckoned him in, and led him through to the kitchenette. "Go on then. Tell me what's so important you've had to sneak here in the middle of the night to see me."

"Like old times, eh," he joked. "This place has changed quite a bit though," he remarked looking around the place. "The patio doors are new."

"Peter, you're obviously not here to play Through The Keyhole, so get to the point," she chastised him. "If you're not careful you'll have Mum raging down the stairs to have a go at you."

"The old bitch would love that. She always did hate the thought of us having sex." He then went contrite. "Sorry. I forgot that you still have to live with her. No doubt the cow would take it out on you and Josh as soon as I walk out the door." A proud smile then lit up his face. "You've done a fantastic job bringing him up, you really have."

Trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, she said, "Thanks."

"No, I'm being serious. He's turned out wonderfully well. Far better than if I'd been involved, I'm sure of it, although I regret that I've been a stupid bastard in that respect. And I know you have every right to be pissed off with me. You are so brilliant and…" At that, his whole demeanour changed; causing Peter to shoot forward and closely embrace her, squeezing her tight. "This isn't me apologising," he warned.

"And this isn't me accepting your apology," she pointed out as she allowed the hug to happen.

His touch and smell was so familiar, even after all this time. God, it was good to be this close to him again, even if it was only temporary. It reminded her of why she had loved him so deeply once.

"I should probably release you now," Peter stated as though he was reluctant to do so, but did just that.

She was shocked when he grabbed hold of her hands. "What are doing?!" she hissed.

"Let me try and make it up to you both," he begged. "I've been thinking about this for a while, now that I've got a few bob put by, that I ought to invest in some property here. Somewhere I'd get a good return for my money; so the thing is: I want to buy Josh a new house or flat to live in. What do you think?"

"I think this is a pretty sick joke," she admitted, unable to believe this offered gift of his.

"Fucking hell, woman! It isn't a joke. I had it all planned, this whole big speech where I offered Josh this chance for you to live rent free while you both go off to university. And yes, Ginger did tell me about your plans, before you ask," he began. "She's been bending my ear a lot lately about Josh. From the sound of it he'll need a proper base in London, and I want to do this for him now that I can. And I'm not being completely selfless, because it might mean that you end up with me staying with you if I ever come back home to London; if the place is big enough, of course," he reasoned. "Aw, don't cry, Donna." He reached up to thumb away her stray tears; both shocked and pleased to see them on her cheek.

Sniffing, she grouched, "Why are you such a git? I'm supposed to hate you right now, not want to kiss you in gratitude."

"How about I let you do both?" he offered, and grinned with pleasure when she threw her arms around him.

.

Three and a half years later, Ellie walked into the kitchen of her father's home, balancing a young girl of about eleven months of age on her hip.

"Ellie! Have you picked up one of the twins…? Oh!" Donna exclaimed as she too entered the room. "I see that you have."

"Yes, Donna," Ellie replied; her voice heavily laced with laughter. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Some," Donna admitted, stifling a yawn. "What about you?"

"Me? I'm fresh as a daisy, aren't I, Holly," Ellie crooned to the tot in her arms, who in turn grinned up at her. "Have you heard from Josh yet?"

"I did, last night. He's flying in tomorrow morning; should land at Heathrow just after six," Donna supplied.

"How long does it take to fly from Las Vegas?" Ellie wondered.

"About eight and a half hours, I think," Donna considered, and took the baby from Ellie's willing arms. "I've missed him pestering me all summer. And I dread to think how much of Peter has rubbed off on him after all this time spent together."

"He'll be sporting a suntan, wearing leather, and swearing after every other word," Ellie joked.

"Gawd, I hope not," Donna moaned. But she was distracted from saying any more by young Holly grabbing her nose, causing her to announce, "Time for breakfast, I think."

"Hello, sweetheart!" John cried as he walked into the room, holding the other twin in his arms. He then strode over to kiss Ellie's cheek. "Say hello to Mummy," he softly ordered, and presented the boy to be kissed.

Donna dutifully kissed her youngest son. "Were you a good boy for Daddy?"

"He peed on me again," John grouched, much to Ellie's amusement. As he manoeuvred the boy's highchair into position, he asked Ellie, "How's the new flat?"

"Coming along nicely," Ellie supplied. "I'll miss these two scallywags when I properly move out."

"But at least you'll be able to spend more time with Christian," Donna stated as she bustled about, having placed Holly in her highchair. "It's nice that you'll be living in the same university lodgings as each other. You won't feel so out of place."

"I still feel a bit mean going to university when it was your dream to go too," Ellie commented.

But Donna waved that concern off. "Don't you worry about me. There's plenty of time for all that once these two are old enough and off my hands. And Imperial isn't that far away, so Josh is close enough to pop in every now and then, when he gets the chance."

"I bet we'll see more of him than ever now that he has his flat back to himself," John declared. "But I for one," he began to say as he leaned over to kiss Donna's temple, "am very grateful you decided to marry me and have these two instead of going to university just yet."

"Well, having two babies wasn't quite on the cards when I first said 'yes' to your proposal," Donna remarked, "but I can't say that I regret it."

"It stopped me being on my own now that Ellie is off my hands," John pondered; and enjoyed being playfully swatted on the arm. "Talking about being on your own, how do you think Peter will cope with Josh being back home and not there to keep him company?"

"Probably not very well, knowing him," Donna answered. "At least he had Josh with him to organise Ginger's gravestone. Poor man. All that business of her getting killed was horrible. Would it be wrong of me to invite him here for a little while?"

"Of course not," John told her, placing a consoling hand over hers. "We're family now, so ask him over whenever you like." Then after a pause, he added, "Just make sure he knows that there'll be no funny business."

"Dad!" Ellie complained. "He's just lost his girlfriend; he isn't likely to chase after an ex."

"Even so," John reasoned, "I want to make things crystal clear."

"I love it when you're jealous," Donna whispered to him, and gave him a quick peck on the lips as a reward.

"Do you have to?" Ellie grumbled. "There are children in the room."

"Is that what they are? Thank goodness you're around to tell me. I'd have never known," Donna jested. "I thought for a second that we'd gained two living garden gnomes."

"Peter could probably create that illusion," Ellie decided with a wink. "Perhaps we ought to suggest it to him for his show."

Donna watched her stepdaughter leave the room and once more found herself wishing that things between and Ellie and Josh hadn't cooled so much when they had gone to different sixth form colleges. They still had a friendly warm relationship despite not seeing much of each other beyond family holidays, but who knew what the future might bring? She certainly didn't.

I mean, look at her life now, married to a college lecturer with two new children, and the possibility of another on the way. A little white stick would provide the truth of that information later in the day so she wouldn't let her expectations take root just yet, in case. The Witchettes of Eastwick would no doubt say she had bewitched Dr John Smith to her advantage; whereas she would say it was entirely the other way around.

**The End**


End file.
